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The JEWISH Vayeishev • Nov. 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 • Torah columns pages 26–27 • Luach page 26 • Vol 17, No 46

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The loathsome symbol of all the world’s woes View from Central Park

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hat a painful week. The ugly tentacles of anti-Semitism came out from all directions. Before the news of Airbnb’s boycott of Jewish apartments in Judea and Samaria, before the bloodcurdling chanting at UCLA of “Intifada!” “Intifada!” — a call to murder Jews in Israel —

before all that, I came across a short video by the well-known thinker and author Yossi Klein Halevy. He’s been on a campus tour discussing his recent book, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. A student at DePaul University in Chicago asked Halevy why “humanizing” Zionists was acceptable. The student compared the humanizing of Zionists to asking African Americans to “humanize” members of the KKK. Here’s part of Halevy’s on-the-spot response: “Those who traffic in that kind of language are on very thin ice. My understanding of antiSemitism is the following: Anti-Semitism is not simply hating the Other, the Jew as Other. Anti-

Semitism works a little bit differently. What antiSemitism does is turn the Jews, the Jew, into the symbol of whatever it is that a given civilization defines as its most loathsome qualities. And so, under Christianity before the Holocaust, and the Vatican too, the Jew was the Christ killer — his blood be upon our heads and upon our children’s heads. Under communism, the Jew was the Capitalist. Under Nazism, the Jew was the race polluter, the ultimate race polluter. “Now we live in a different civilization, where the most loathsome qualities are racism, colonialism, apartheid. And lo and behold, the greatest offender in the world today — with all the

beautiful countries of the world — is the Jewish state. The Jewish state is THE symbol of the genocidal racist apartheid state. That’s Israel. That’s the Jewish state. “An Israeli political philosopher, named Yaakov Talmon, once put it this way: ‘The state of the Jews has become the Jew of the State.’ What that means to me is, criticism of Israel is not antiSemitism. Criticism of Israel’s right to existence, denying Israel the right to exist, calling Israel the Zionist Entity, that is anti-Semitism. That is a classical continuity of thousands of years of symbolizing ‘the Jew.’ So, using that kind of lanSee The world’s woes on page 29

Keeping safe amid joy of Chanukah

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By Lior Zaltzman, Kveller While Hanukkah is a delightful holiday, there is none as dangerous with its open flames, boiling oil and sharp graters. Menorah safety tips: Don’t leave your menorahs unattended. Never leave a room where a menorah is lit. Either wait for the candles to go out, or put them out yourself if you need to leave the house. Put your menorahs on a nonflammable surface. If you’re putting your menorah on a wooden windowsill or other wooden surface, make sure to lay down aluminum foil or another nonflammable material. An even better idea is to put your menorah on a stone or marble counter. Glass and metal surfaces also work. Put your menorahs on a sturdy surface. Is your dining room table a bit wobbly? Don’t put your menorah there! Any piece of furniture with wheels is also a bad idea. Opt for a sturdy, safe surface. Keep your menorahs away from pets. This might be easier said than done, especially with adventurous cats around, but it’s better not to put that menorah anywhere your pets are known to reach. Keep your menorahs out of reach of little kids. It may be obvious, but make sure your menorahs are away from edges and are high enough. Don’t walk around with a lit candle. No running with scissors, no walking with fire — basic rules to live by. Take precautions when letting children light the menorah. Make sure they are standing on a sturdy surface, and are close and high enough to safely light it — a stable stool is good, so they can see what they’re doing. Have an adult there for support and intervention. Keep decorations, papers and fabrics away from your menorah. Put decorations far from where you’ll be lighting. If you’re putting your menorah by the window, make sure there’s no way for the flame to touch the curtains. Keep any papers (including paper towels) away from where the menorah is placed, and out of your hands when you’re

lighting. And when you’re lighting candles, make sure they are far from your clothing and hair. Don’t light your kid’s arts and crafts menorah unless you’re 100 percent sure they aren’t flammable. These handmade menorahs may be super cute, but they can also be fire hazards. Make sure to only light menorahs you are certain are nonflammable. Keep the ones you’re not sure about away from the lit menorahs. Frying safety tips: Make sure your fire and carbon monoxide detectors are working. This is pretty self-explanatory but easy to forget. Never fill your pan with too much oil, and keep it from getting too hot. Being burned with splashing oil really, really stinks. Make sure your oil doesn’t get too hot. It’s a good idea to use an oil with a high burning point, like canola oil or olive oil. Keep your pan and pot handles facing the inside of the stove. It’s a good way to keep them from getting knocked over. You DO NOT want that boiling pan falling on the floor. Keep young children away from the stove. Consider a 3-foot safety zone around the stove when the latkes are frying, or using the rear burners so children cannot reach the flames. Keep flammable materials away from the flames. Keep hair and shirtsleeves pulled up and away from the flame. Make sure you keep paper towels away from the flames, too. Never try to extinguish a fire with water, and keep water away from your frying pan. In case of a grease fire, turn off the stove and use a pot lid or a baking pan to extinguish a grease fire. If that doesn’t work, you can douse it with lots of baking soda. Keep a good burn cream around and treat any burn right away. Accidents happen. If you do get burned, run your burn under cold water right away. Dispose of your oil properly. Don’t throw that oil down the drain! It will clog your pipes. Instead, let it cool and put it in a closed container that you can throw away.

Warmest Wishes For a Happy & Healthy Chanukah

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

Chanukah connection: Sharing a distant light

Save a Life!

THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

By Deborah Fineblum, JNS Even when she can’t be with them on the holFor generations, lighting the Chanukah can- iday, Ann Wanetik, who lives in the Detroit area, dles together has been the stuff of lifelong mem- takes advantage of her visits to her eight grandories. But today’s far-flung families are increas- children, all of whom happen to live in one small ingly challenged to share the experience. Today’s country in the Middle East. “Whenever I’m in Isparents and grandparents are called upon to ap- rael in the fall, I take each one out separately and ply ingenuity, creativity, flexibility and some ba- let them choose what they want for Chanukah,” sic technical know-how to successfully span the she says. “It’s an opportunity to have some time miles with Chanukah spirit. alone with each one, focus on what that child enIn fact, says author Anita Diamant, who’s joys most and buy them something special they generated a library of guidebooks on modern pick out themselves.” Jewish life, including How to Raise a Jewish Child: A Practical Handbook for Family Life, “my family enjoys Chanukah kitsch so much we keep it going over the miles.” When her daughter was in college, Diamant would send a box of “Chanukah stuff as counterweight to the Christmas decorations.” The “stuff” — menorah, gelt, candles (flame-free for those in dorms) can include modest gifts for each of the eight nights. Indeed, many find that Chanukah invites us to shelve our refined sensibilities for eight days. There’s no such thing as bad taste — the tackier, the better, according to some. Technology can be a parent’s best friend. Diamant recommends sending long-distance kids a “light-hearted” text or Hadassah Sabo Milner is pictured with her sons Naff, email on each night complete with a holi- Aryeh and Avraham. When they’re serving as IDF lone day story and a link to a Chanukah song, soldiers, it’s “Chanukah when I miss them the absolute “plus a video of you lighting your chanuki- most, and when we light, I usually cry.” yah at home.” Whatever form it takes, Chanukah love from Taking advantage of Skype home is never more appreciated than in these and the Internet days of anti-Israel — often outright anti-Semitic For Boston-area grandmother Ruth Nemzoff, — influences on many North American campus- technology erases the miles. “You’ve got to get with the program,” she says. es. Nemzoff, author of Don’t Roll Your Eyes: “Even celebrating a happy Jewish holiday like Chanukah can get tricky on campuses to- Making In-Laws Into Family, and known as day,” says Tammi Rossman-Benjamin of AMCHA “Mama Ruth” to her 11 grandchildren ages 8 Initiative, a watchdog organization monitoring months to 18 years, has developed a full proNorth American campuses. “And yet, the Cha- gram of Chanukah connections with those on nukah story — about the few against the many the West Coast and in Washington. “No matter what, when you live at a dis— has so much to say about the threats that Jewish students face today. We know what hap- tance you have to be resourceful in creating pened thousands of years ago on this small piece Chanukah with your grandchildren, but with of land, which the anti-Israel forces are telling interfaith ones, it’s even more important,” says us we have no historical right to. It reminds stu- Nemzoff, a board member at InterfaithFamily. dents that, even more basic than the latkes and “I’m not big on materialism, and the goal is not sufganiyot, is that this awesome story and this to compete with the gifts under the tree, but I do want to share this special tradition with ancient land truly belong to them.” Lone soldiers relive that story daily. But it’s them,” she adds. The Internet makes much of this possible,. not always easy on their parents. “Chanukah is when I miss them the absolute most, and when Through it, she sends her younger grandkids we light, I usually cry,” says Hadassah Sabo Mil- DVDs and the older ones Chanukah songs. ner, a mom of three IDF lone soldiers, who lives She’ll send small gifts, and in this Skype-able with her youngest son and husband in New York. world light the candles, open gifts and even “On Chanukah, we were always singing ‘Maoz make latkes “together.” “Sometimes, I also Tzur’ really badly together. And even though email them a picture of the gift they’ll get the I’m not the kind of mom who needs to talk to next time we visit.” my kids every day — they need to live their lives Sometimes, even with the best of distancewithout having to check in all the time — when spanners, it’s hard to beat the appeal of a slopwe light here, it’s the middle of the night in Is- py sufganiyot-flavored kiss. rael, and I can’t just pick up the phone and call.” “We usually just get on a plane,” says Balti‘Begin new traditions all their own’ more bubbe Belle Libber. Be it to Milwaukee, College students and soldiers have built-in Atlanta or Israel (one daughter lives nearby), communities to celebrate with. For young adults Libber and her husband have racked up freliving far from family, it can be lonely. Rachael quent-flyer miles. “There’s nothing like being Klein Miller hosts events for young adults in At- right there with them,” she says. lanta. When that isn’t possible, love can travel at “It might be tough to be away from home the speed of light — namely, the light of the because they haven’t quite mastered the latke menorah, says Rabbi Yisroel Gordon, principal recipe, they’re putting together a makeshift me- of Machon Los Angeles. “One reason Chanunorah,” says Miller. “But being away from home kah makes a lot of people really homesick is also means that they’ve started to pave their own the power of the menorah light itself, the only path; it’s a chance to share traditions from home remnant we still have of the priests’ service in and begin new traditions.” the holy temple,” he says. “Chanukah reminds When they pose for a group candle-lighting us of the importance of family since it was one photo, “there’s a glimpse of peoplehood — of courageous Jewish family, Matisyahu and his feeling connected to the Jewish community and five sons, who created this miracle and saved loving the chance to share that pride.” the Jewish people.” Whereas young adults are celebrating be“If I were a mystic,” he adds, “I’d say that, loved traditions from childhood, young children gazing at the lights, you can feel that wherever are busy forming their memories, and grandpar- they are, your child is gazing at the same lights ents want to be part of that happy process. along with you.”

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New books for Jewish kids to read at Chanukah By Penny Schwartz, JTA Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie — the names of the five fictional sisters bring a smile to generations of Jewish Americans who grew up reading “All-of-a-Kind Family,” the classic mid-century chapter book series by Sydney Taylor that followed the day-to-day doings and adventures of a Jewish-American immigrant family on New York’s Lower East Side. The trailblazing series marked the first time that a children’s book about a JewishAmerican family found an audience in both Jewish and non-Jewish American homes. Now the beloved family comes to life in “Allof-a-Kind Family Hanukkah,” the first fully illustrated picture book based on the series, by Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky. The dynamic writer-illustrator team will charm young readers with this delightful story that reflects the warmth and spirited character of the original and creates a new chapter for this generation. It’s among eight new outstanding and engaging children’s books for Chanukah, which begins this year on Sunday evening, Dec. 2. All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky. Schwartz and Wade Books; ages 3 to 8 Jenkins, an award-winning author, grew up reading the “All-of-a-Kind” classics — over and over, she told JTA. “As an only child, I adored books about big families and their escapades,” she wrote in an email. Jenkins read the books to her children, who were just as smitten. For this illustrated book, set on the eve of Chanukah in 1912, Jenkins focused on Gertie, the spunky 4-year-old, as the family gets ready to celebrate the holiday. Adults familiar with the chapter books will spot various references to the original — such as the gingersnaps hidden in the bed, Ella’s favorite hymn and a special library book, Jenkins revealed.

Zelinsky said illustrating the Taylor classic was a chance to reconnect with the books his daughters adored. In a phone conversation, the Brooklynite, whose recognition for excellence includes the prestigious Caldecott Award for “Rapunzel,” said he immersed himself in the “All-of-a-Kind” world, down to the details of what the storybook family’s New York apartment looked like. Zelinsky stepped away from his well-known finer, more detailed style and embraced bolder, less polished illustrations that he said matched Gertie’s passion and reflect the soul of the stories. In one spectacular double-page spread, kids get a cutaway view of the family apartment: In the bedroom, Gertie is hiding under the bed after a tantrum while Mama and her sisters are in the adjacent kitchen joyfully preparing potato latkes. The back pages include notes from Jenkins and Zelinsky that fill in details about Taylor and the creation of this new book. Dreidel Day Amalia Hoffman. Kar-Ben; ages 1-4 Young kids will spin, bounce and tumble their way through Chanukah along with a lively kitty in this delightful board book that glows like the colors of a box of holiday candles. Little ones can count out loud with each double-page spread that features one word and one number and discover the corresponding number of colorful dreidels. My Family Celebrates Hanukkah Lisa Bullard; illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo Lerner Publications; ages 4-8 This easy-to-follow illustrated story is perfect for families and classrooms. Kids learn about the Chanukah tale and the miracle of

how a small amount of oil lasted eight days. Families celebrate, light candles, play dreidel, and receive chocolate and coins as gifts. The book’s end pages explain the holiday and pose reading-based questions helpful for educators. Light the Menorah! A Hanukkah Handbook Jacqueline Jules; illustrated by Kristina Swarner. Kar-Ben; ages 4-10 In this contemporary guide to Chanukah, families discover unique ways to celebrate Chanukah that give deeper meaning to the ritual of lighting the menorah, as well as easy to understand explanations of the holiday. Jules, an award-winning author, offers a short verse for each of the eight nights that can be read after lighting the menorah. They reflect the holiday’s themes of religious freedom, courage and miracles. Swarner’s illustrations and border designs add warmth and glow. Songs, rules for playing dreidel and instructions for simple crafts such as a homemade coupon gift book make this book a welcome resource. Hannah’s Hanukkah Hiccups Shanna Silva; illustrated by Bob McMahon. Apples & Honey Press; ages 4-8 Uh, oh. Or make that Uh-hic-oh! Hannah Hope Hartman, a spunky young girl who lives in a brownstone on Hester Street, is practicing for her religious school’s Chanukah program when she suddenly gets a case of the hiccups – and they just won’t go away! Her brother Henry tries to cure her by making funny faces. The building’s diverse neighbors offer their own customs: drinking pickle juice backwards; a Mexican red string cure and cardamom cookies. Kids will relate to Hannah, who doesn’t want

to be in the school program with the hiccups and finds a creative solution. Silva’s heartwarming story — and the play on words that begin with the letter “h” — is perfectly paired with McMahon’s cartoon-like illustrations in this lively, laugh-out-loud yarn that shines with the light of a family’s Chanukah celebration. How It’s Made: Hanukkah Menorah Allison Ofanansky; Photographs by Eliyahu Alpern. Apples and Honey Press; ages 7-12 Family members of all ages will gather round this engaging book, which shines a light on all things menorah. The 32 pages of Ofanansky’s text, brought to life by Alpern’s vibrant photographs, explain the holiday and explore the many types of menorahs — from antiques to creative whimsical versions. Kids go behind the scenes with menorah-making artists. A fun fact reveals that one Israeli bakery fries and bakes 2,000 doughnuts for each day of Chanukah. Gifts, songs and blessings in Hebrew, English and transliterated from Hebrew are also included along with instructions for making candles, olive oil and latkes. The Story of Hanukkah David A. Adler, illustrated by Jill Weber. Holiday House; Board book, ages 2-4 In this vibrantly illustrated board book, the award-winning David Adler retells the story of Chanukah in simple, straightforward prose for young readers, paired with richly colored bold illustrations by Weber, the team that wrote the original (2011) version for older kids. The end depicts a modern family celebrating Chanukah. Light the Menorah: A Playful Action Rhyme Tova Gitty Broide; illustrated by Patti Argoff. Hachai Publishing; ages 1-4 This lively rhyming book features two young brothers and a sister from a haredi Orthodox family joyfully celebrating Chanukah, with latkes hopping in the frying pan and the sister spinning like a dreidel.

Glick rips leftist Jews for failing to fight leftwing anti-Semitism By Ed Weintrob JERUSALEM — Former Israel Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren cautioned that although President Trump heads “the friendliest administration this country has known since its founding in 1948, we can’t lose track of the fact that this administration will not be in the White House indefinitely.” Speaking at the opening of the Jewish New Media Summit here on Sunday night, Oren said it was important for Israel to seize the moment. The Jewish state should deal with Hamas “at a time when we have this friendly administration in Washington,” he said. “And do it now when we have close relationships with our Sunni neighbors in the region.” Nevertheless, as a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s team, he supported Netanyahu’s reluctance to fully confront Hamas during a recent flare-up. The prime minister’s decision was both difficult and responsible, a better alternative than falling into what he saw as a trap set by Iran or the Palestinian Authority, he said. While he has “no doubt that the IDF will take care of Hamas — the question is what happens the day after,” Oren said. “How can we assure that a Hamas-like regime once again will not take over the Gaza strip?” “Even when the IDF would be successful in ousting Hamas from the Gaza strip, we’d be left holding the seven keys to Gaza and we’d be sitting there saying, OK, who’s going to

race dominated national thinking. But today, when “the gestalt is globalism and post-nationalism,” Jewish nationalism is an obvious target. And she blamed the Jewish left for failing to fight back because, she said, it “won’t see anti-Semitism on the left.” Referencing Airbnb’s decision to exclude Jews in Judea and Samaria from U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman spoke to Jewish journalists by video, and MK Michael Oren, former Israel Ambassador its service, Glick said to the U.S., addressed the group on Sunday night. Caroline Glick helped define anti-Semitism on Monday. that “empowered, well-financed, welltake the keys to Gaza, and nobody would have attacks of all kinds — whether military attacks platformed Jewish intellectuals, whether in taken those keys,” he said. from Hamas rockets or verbal attacks in inter- the U.S. or Israel, are insisting that certain The summit, hosted by the Israel Goverment national forums,” he said. Jews deserve to be hated and persecuted and Press Office, drew about 160 Jewish journalists Departing from Trump’s Twitter mantra, that there’s something essentially legitimate from around the world to four days of intensive Friedman praised his audience of journalists. about dehumanizing them and saying that examination of issues affecting Israel and the “As journalists, you are the vanguards of the they don’t have basic human rights, including Diaspora. truth,” he said, adding that “the United States rights to property and the right to live.” Speaking by video from the United States, never fears the truth and neither does Israel.” Glick cited the recent election of three DemU.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Both Friedman and Oren referenced the ocratic radicals to Congress, “two of whom, that “a day does not go by when I don’t thank massacre in Pittsburgh. Friedman was critical perhaps a third — she was so incoherent it G-d for the privilege of being the first U.S. am- of media coverage that emphasized divisions. was hard to tell — who literally oppose the exbassador to serve his country from this holy “We have much more that unites us than di- istence of Israel. This is deeply discriminatory city.” vides us,” he said. “To honor the memory of the against Jews and yet you don’t have Jews on Proclaiming that under President Trump victims let us redouble our efforts to love each the left who are decrying this in a consistent, “the US-Israel relationship is the closest it has other, to respect each other, and most impor- coherent and competent way because it’s too ever been,” Friedman said, “We are blessed tantly to unite against the true forces of hatred ideologically and socially expensive.” to have a president who embraces the truth, and evil and eradicate them forever.” Every form of anti-Semitism is dangerous, whether with regard to Jerusalem, with regard On Monday morning, during a panel discus- she said, as she listed four types she found to to Iran’s malign activities or with regard to the sion on the Modern Faces of Anti-Semitism, be prevalent in the United States — race-based anti-Israel bias at the United Nations.” Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick called white supremacist, the Nazi form; Islamic ji“The United States stands with Israel and traditional race-based anti-Semitism a throw- hadist; black nationalist; and, especially toxic supports Israel’s right to defend itself against back to the 19th and early 20th centuries when in her view, multicultural globalist.

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THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Oren, Friedman hail Trump at Jewish media event

Columbia U’s Center: Ramallah on the Hudson tion founded to oppose campus BDS activists. olumbia SSI chapter president Dalia Zahger, and vice president Ofir Dayan, both IDF veterans, shared their experiences as targets of harassment, some by members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a joint venture of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Dayan said she has been approached by anti-Israel students screaming, “Stop killing Muslim babies,” “You’re a murderer,” and “Zionist, get out!” Zahger reports that she has been compared to a Hamas terrorist and accused of “spitting on [her] ancestors’ ashes in Europe.” On April 9, 2018, they attended an event, “On the Palestine Exception (with some thoughts concerning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Zionism in the academy).” The speakers were antiIsrael ideologues: Massad; Jasbir Puar, professor of gender studies at Rutgers University; and Gil Hochberg, professor of comparative literature at UCLA and also the Ransford professor of Hebrew and comparative literature, and Middle East studies at Columbia. When members of CUAD saw Dayan looking at her phone, they accused her of recording the event and called campus safety officers. When Dayan refused to hand over her phone, she, Zagher, and other SSI members were escorted from the event. So much for academic freedom. hen they registered complaints with the university, Zagher was asked why she attends such events when she knows they will be “problematic and tense.” The executive vice president for student life told Dayan that the university “has no authority to take measures against SJP unless they become violent.” She was advised to “put campus safety on speed dial.” There is no doubt that anti-Israel political activism in the classroom leads to anti-Semitism outside it. Statistics show that antiSemitic incidents are far more likely to occur at universities where BDS events are hosted. Clearly, the CPS fosters an atmosphere that encourages anti-Semitism. If Columbia University abides by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism (as adopted by both the State Department and Department of Education), it will have to re-examine both the work and influence of the Center for Palestine Studies, where the professors for the liberation of “Palestine” are trying to turn the Upper West Side into the Upper West Bank. A.J. Caschetta is a lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a fellow at Campus Watch.

a.j. Cashetta

he Trump administration may have closed the PLO’s Mission in Washington, but its Morningside Heights Mission is open for business. I refer to Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies (CPS), an Ivy League clearinghouse for PLO propaganda and the demonization of Israel. Call it the PLO’s American academic wing. When the CPS opened more than eight years ago, founding codirector Rashid Khalidi promised that it would avoid doing “anything that’s directly related to any political activism.” This is laughable. What Khalidi meant is that the CSP would not participate in anti-Israel activism, but this is a lie. The faculty members who comprise the center’s experts are rivaled only by the faculty of Birzeit University in Ramallah for their anti-Israel advocacy. It might, in fact, take a Center for Palestine Studies to examine thoroughly the history of Palestinian organizations devoted to political violence. Instead, Columbia has assembled the anti-Israel all-stars of academia, such as Joseph Massad, who has called for “the continuing resistance of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories to all the civil and military institutions that uphold Jewish supremacy.” Another member is Hamid Dabashi, who wrote that Israel is a “key actor” in “every dirty treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world.” n addition to being a professor at Columbia’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the CPS, Khalidi also happens to be a former member of the PLO, as Martin Kramer has shown. Not since Columbia hired former Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin at its School of Social Work has it given a platform to “reformed” terrorists. At least Boudin expressed remorse. Not so Khalidi, whose views have remained consistent since his PLO days, though now masked in the academic patois of post-colonialism. Brinkley Messick, the CPS’s other founding co-director, hyped it as the first academic center devoted to the study of Palestinian Arabs. “Very simply,” he gushed, “there’s never been a dedicated space … for this kind of research.” He was partly right. Columbia has a Middle East Institute, but

Protesters outside the main gates of Columbia University, in October, called on the college administration to do more to protect proIsrael students. Ben Sales

the CPS brought together faculty from beyond Middle East Studies, all dedicated to delegitimizing Israel and whitewashing Palestinian violence. Several have even been immortalized in The David Project’s documentary Columbia Unbecoming (2004) where their purported reluctance to be political is exposed as fraudulent. he CPS has spent the past eight years spreading the three key elements of PLO propaganda: minimizing terrorism, delegitimizing Israel, and altering history. Yasser Arafat was the pioneer of minimization. In 1974, he told the United Nations, “Whoever stands by a just cause and fights for the freedom and liberation of his land from the invaders, the settlers and the colonialists, cannot possibly be called terrorist.” Delegitimizing Israel has always been a PLO priority; the academic version is BDS. And finessing history by portraying the Arabs who refused a state in 1948 as victims of European Jewish aggression is the third component of the propaganda strategy. The CPS echo chamber attracts students who revile Israel and equips them with fashionable postmodern jargon to dress up their hatred. Students who support Israel know enough to stay away. The rare few who genuinely seek dialogue and debate are feared. Rather than engage in civil debate, the CPS isolates and excludes them, fostering an atmosphere of harassment, especially against members of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), an organiza-

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

11/20/2018 2:01:11 PM

7 THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

The JEWISH STAR

Wine & Dine

Chanukah: it’s more than just latkes Kosher Kitchen

Joni SChoCKeTT

Jewish Star columnist

hanukah is all about the latkes — or is it? My grandmother made latkes once during Chanukah, and so did my mother. I make latkes once, or sometimes twice, if I have a new idea I want to try. No one I know makes latkes more than once, or maybe twice. So how did they come to be the iconic food for Chanukah? In my family, they were anything but. They were just a side dish for brisket, garnished with applesauce, or for fish, in which case we used sour cream. In house of my grandmother, the matriarch of all holidays, it was all about sweets. From rugelach to cheese Danishes, almond cakes, coffee cakes, chocolate candies and more, my grandmother baked every single day of the holiday — or so it seemed. She made so many pastries that we 11 grandchildren wanted to live in her apartment for the entire holiday! Years later, my mother took up the role. She made apple crisp, chocolate chip golden brownies and these little refrigerator cookies that had an indentation filled with raspberry jam. She topped them with a chocolate drizzle. Each day, after candle lighting, we got to have one of the treats. I did come to understand the connection between oil and the holiday, which explained the latkes and, years later, the sufganiyot, but I never could make the connection between the eight days and an unending baked goods. Why so many kinds of pastries? My family invented all kinds of stories to explain, but none were true: my grandmother said it was because she wanted her grandchildren to have something sweet each day, but she always baked for us. My mother said it was “just because it’s a holiday.” But she baked every Shabbat — the only day we got dessert other than fruit. My aunt said there was no reason, she had no idea who started the tradition, and as long as someone saved her some of whatever they baked, she didn’t care. So here we are. It’s almost Chanukah and, a

few weeks ago I was thinking about whether I have the energy this year to make the same old sufganiyot. I had kind of lost my sufganiyot mojo. Then a friend sent me a gift. As I opened the box, I saw the word “Sweet,” printed in gold letters across a picture of a rather unusual-looking fruit tart — or was it a pie? Sweet is Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest book. Like his others, it is unique, enticing, and worth a month or so of devoted kitchen time. This book is not for anyone looking for traditional or common desserts. The 100-plus recipes by Ottolenghi and his long-time collaborator Helen Goh are exquisitely new and exciting! This beautifully photographed book is for the lover of unusual pairings and groundbreaking tastes. It is for a baker who savors the feel of piecrusts and cake batters and more. The recipes, often long and detailed, are not necessarily difficult, but are written to explain and teach every step of the way. I cannot wait to try every one of them. Roasted Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake; Honey, Macadamia and Coconut Caramels; Custard Yo-Yos with Roasted Rhubarb Icing. The names are enough to excite my imagination and taste buds. Coconut, Almond and Blueberry Cake (Dairy, Pareve) 1-1/2 cups almond flour 2/3 cup finely shredded coconut 1-1/4 cups sugar 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. self-rising flour

1/4 tsp. salt 4 large eggs 3/4 cup unsalted butter or pareve margarine, melted and cooled 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract Finely grated zest of 2 lemons 1-1/4 cups fresh blueberries 1/4 cup sliced almonds Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan on the bottom and sides. Line with parchment and make sure the parchment rises 1 inch above the sides of the pan. Press the parchment into the pan sticking it to the bottom and sides. Set aside. Place the almond flour, coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to mix well. Place the eggs in a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Add the melted, cooled butter, the vanilla, and the lemon zest, and whisk until well blended. Fold into the almond flour mixture and whisk until completely blended. Fold in 1 cup of

blueberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top along with the almonds. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool. Then invert pan over a plate, remove the pan and then the parchment paper. Invert onto another plate so the cake is right side up. Serves 8 to 12. Brown Butter Almond Tuiles (dairy) 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed 1-1/4 cups sliced almonds 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar 1/4 cup unbleached flour 2 large egg whites 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Set aside. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. As the butter melts, swirl the pan gently from time to time to allow even browning of the solids. Continue to let the butter bubble until the solids turn a rich, deep, golden brown. Remove from the heat and let the pan sit for 5 minutes so the solids can continue to brown. Pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer or one lined with cheesecloth. Discard the solids. You need 3/4 of an ounce or 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter, so discard any extra or use for another purpose. Let cool completely. Place the almonds, sugar, flour and butter in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix completely, but gently. Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto the baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten each tuile with dampened fingers so that each one is about 2-1/2 inches across. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the pan once. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack or to a rolling pin so that they can cool into their traditional shape. Makes about 20.

Forget Chanukah crunch: Try creamy potato latkes By Rachel Ringler, The Nosher via JTA Each Jewish holiday has its iconic food: For Passover it’s the symbolic matzah; for Rosh Hashanah it’s sweet honey and new fruits. For Purim we get the delectable hamantaschen; and for Chanukah it’s oil. That purified olive oil, used to rekindle the iconic seven-branched candelabra that was eternally lit in the grand Temple in Jerusalem, has shown up in modern times in our Chanukah lamps and in our foods. Jews from North Africa traditionally ate some form of fried pastry or doughnut filled with fruit or coated with honey and sugar. In Israel, expect to see bakeries filled with flats and flats of sufganiyot, fried doughnuts filled with jam, for weeks before the start of the eight-day holiday of Chanukah. But in the United States, while jelly doughnuts have grown in popularity, some sort of fried pancake is still de rigueur. In our home, we eat what our Polish grandparents ate: potato latkes. Generally they are the classic ingredients: grated russet potatoes and onion, bound with matzah meal and egg, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried in vegetable oil. We never use schmaltz, the chicken or goose fat that was often used in Eastern Europe because of its ubiquity and low cost. We would like to! But we feel guilty enough eating any sort of fried food. Cooking our potatoes in schmaltz, while delicious, is simply a bridge too far. But still, even within my own family, there is a latke schism. Yes to potatoes. Yes to vegetable oil. But it’s the texture of those potato delights that causes the great divide. I like a crunchy latke, while my sisters prefer creamy. The difference between the two?

1 medium yellow onion 3 extra large eggs 1/2 cup matzah meal 2 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil for frying

How they’re prepared and processed — on a coarse or fine grate. For a potato pancake that while crisp on the outside is memorable for its creamy texture within, and that requires lots of oil — a tip of the frying pan to Maccabean times — try my sister Cheryl Schildkraut’s simple recipe for potato latke straight from my family’s treasure trove of Eastern European foods. Ingredients: 3 lbs. russet potatoes

Directions: 1. Peel and quarter potatoes and onion. 2. Divide into 3 batches and place in a food processor fitted with a stainless steel mixing blade. 3. Process each batch until there are no visible chunks and the mixture is smooth. Do not overprocess. 4. Drain mixture using a sieve placed over a large bowl. Press down gently to release liquid. 5. Pour drained potato mixture into a clean bowl. Add eggs, matzah meal, salt and pepper. Mix well. 6. Pour 1/2 inch of vegetable oil into 12- or 13-inch frying pan and heat on medium until the oil shimmers. 7. Using a slotted spoon, carefully place mounds of potato mixture into the hot oil. 8. Fry until brown on one side — about 3 to 4 minutes — and turn over and fry the second side until brown and crisp. 9. Place the browned latke on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil and repeat steps 8 and 9 until the mixture is all used. 10. Serve with applesauce and sour cream if desired.

9 THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Dairy Donuts That Take Delectable to a Whole New Level

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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Wine & Dine

Chocolate babka doughnuts recipe By Chaya Rappoport, The Nosher via JTA Babka is nearly a weekly occurrence in my house, and I can think of few things better. But it’s not just me: Babka has been getting the recognition it deserves all over the country, making appearances everywhere from artisanal bakeries to Jewish delis and even high-end restaurants. My babka recipe is rich, buttery and loaded with eggs, more closely related to brioche than to the old, which is what I wanted for these babka-doughnut hybrids. I increased the flour content and the eggs, making for a sturdier dough, and I reduced the amount of butter — just by a smidge so the dough would stand up better to frying. For a little crunch and to offset the sweetness of the filling and dough I added cacao nibs, which impart a slightly bitter flavor and some nice crunch, too. Cacao (or cocoa) nibs are dried, fermented pieces of coffee beans – a very pure, intense chocolaty flavor. You can find them at Whole Foods, specialty food stores (like a health food store) or on Amazon. With these doughnuts, you get all the pillowy softness of babka, plus the moisture that deepfrying locks into the dough. The dark chocolate pastry cream would be lovely in a tart, cream puffs or on cake, but here, along with the cacao nib sugar, it serves to further complement the dough and turns the whole treat into something much more than just chocolate babka. Both doughnuts and babka are time-intensive kitchen projects — usually it’d be either-or — and that choice would be pretty hard to make. But with these doughnuts both are possible at once. And if that isn’t a Chanukah miracle, then I don’t know what is. Please note: You want to make the dough the night before you will fry, so plan accordingly. Ingredients: For the dough: 3⁄4 cup whole milk

4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature, cubed 3-1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour 1⁄2 cup sugar 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast 1 tsp. kosher salt For the chocolate pastry cream: 4 large egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar 2 Tbsp. cornstarch 4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt 1-1/2 cups milk 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cubed For the cacao nib sugar plus frying: 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying 2 cups sugar 4 Tbsp. cacao nibs Directions: 1. To make the cacao nib sugar: In a food processor, grind the cacao nibs until fine. Combine the pulverized cacao nibs and sugar. Transfer to an airtight container until ready to use. 2. The next step is to make the pastry cream, since it needs to set before you fill the doughnuts. Whisk together yolks, vanilla, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. 3. In a heavy saucepan, bring milk just to a boil over moderate heat and in a stream add 1/4 cup to egg mixture, whisking until smooth. 4. Transfer the milk-and-egg mixture to the pan with the rest of the milk and bring to a boil, whisking (the mixture will look curdled but will become smooth as whisked). 5. Boil the mixture, whisking vigorously, 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate and butter, stirring until melted and combined well. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and chill, sur-

face covered with plastic wrap, overnight, or until ready to fill doughnuts. 6. To make the doughnut dough: Heat the milk until warm to the touch, around 110 F. Add the eggs to the warm milk mixture and whisk gently to combine. 7. Butter a medium bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add the milk mixture and mix just until combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on low speed, about 3 minutes. The dough will be sticky — this is perfectly fine. 8. Increase the speed to medium and add the butter, a piece or two at a time. In the mixer, let the dough mix until completely smooth and elastic. To test the dough’s readiness, try stretching a piece of it. It should stretch easily to a point where it becomes translucent but doesn’t rip. 9. Put the dough in a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for minimum of 12 hours, or overnight. 10. The next day, when ready to make the doughnuts, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust the paper well with flour. Tip the cold dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it into a 9-1/2- by 12-1 ⁄2-inch rectangle. It should be about 1/2-inch thick. 11. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 dough rounds and set them on the prepared sheets. Lightly cover them with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to proof for about 1-1/2 hours. After proofing, the dough should look puffy and spring back slowly when pressed gently. 12. When you’re ready to fry, line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. Prepare the cacao nib sugar in a bowl nearby. Spoon the pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. 13. Add the oil to a medium, heavy-bot-

tomed pot or to a deep fryer. Heat the oil to between 350 and 365 F. 14. Carefully add 2 to 3 doughnuts to the oil and fry them until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, put the doughnuts on the paper towels. After about 1 minute, when the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, toss them in the cacao nib sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough. 15. To fill the doughnuts, put the pastry cream in a pastry bag. Using a knife or a chopstick, poke a hole into one side of each doughnut. Be careful not to poke through the other side. Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the hole and gently squeeze to fill. Makes 12 doughnuts. Chaya Rappoport is a pastry sous chef at a Brooklyn bakery.

Different kind of fry: Cheesy kale, potato gratin By Chaya Rappoport, The Nosher In addition to Judah Maccabee, there’s another hero — or in this case, heroine — associated with the Chanukah story, and while her story is lesser known, it’s also awe-inspiring. Judith was a young, beautiful widow who lived in the second century BCE in the town of Bethulia. When Bethulia came under siege by the notoriously cruel Assyrian general Holofernes, and the townspeople were close to surrender, Judith stepped in. She begged her people to have faith and asked them to give her a chance before they gave up. They did, and that night, she and her maid set out for the enemy camp. Judith walked confidently into the camp and demanded to be taken to the general. Once in his tent, she presented herself as a Jewish sympathizer and promised Holofernes she’d help him take down Bethulia. The general, who was instantly smitten, invited her to a feast. Judith came prepared. She brought her briny, homemade goat cheese to the feast, persuaded the general to partake of the salty dairy and when he got thirsty, plied him with strong, undiluted wine. In a matter of minutes he had passed out, and lay sprawled across his tent in a drunken stupor. Judith, alone with him in the tent, uttered a silent prayer asking for help and strength. And then, in one swift motion, she unsheathed his sword and beheaded him. Suffice it to say, Bethulia emerged victorious. Judith brought Holofernes’ severed head back to her community elders, who then launched a surprise attack on the Assyrians. The Assyrians, who found their commander laying headless in his tent, fled. Judith had courage and bravery in spades, and today, in her honor, it’s customary to eat dairy on Chanukah. I love this gratin for Chanukah parties because it feeds a crowd, incorporates cheese and features these thinly sliced potatoes — it’s like one big cheesy latke. The kale is a hearty addition that breaks up all the creamy, cheesy goodness, and the garlic, thyme and bay leaves add flavor. Raclette is a particular type of Swiss cheese that becomes nutty and melty when it is heated up, but you could also use Gruyère if

2 garlic cloves, minced 3 fresh bay leaves 3 sprigs fresh thyme 5 whole black peppercorns 1 Tbsp. ground mustard seed 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1 Tbsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 4 lbs. russet potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced 4 cups washed curly or lacinato kale, chopped and stem removed 4 oz. Raclette or Gruyère cheese (1 cup), finely grated 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

you cannot find Raclette. It’s delicious, but best of all, it’s a reminder of the strength women have within, and that a single act of courage can change the course of history. Eat cheese — and celebrate Chanukah and great Jewish women! Ingredients: Butter, for the dish 2-1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the inside of a 3-quart baking dish. 2. Bring the heavy cream, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns, mustard and nutmeg to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Let cool slightly. Remove bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns from sauce. Season the cream mixture with salt and pepper. 3. Fan out a layer of potatoes on the bottom of the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with 1 cup of the kale. Pour 1/4 of the cream mixture on top. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the grated cheese mixture. Repeat with 3 more layers, reserving the last 1/4 cup of cheese. 4. Bake potatoes until tender and creamy, around 1 hour. Then cover the potatoes with foil and let bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cream is bubbling and the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. 5. Place rack in highest position; heat broiler. Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and sprinkle over the potatoes. 6. Broil until cheese is bubbling and top of gratin is golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Serve topped with sprigs of fresh thyme leaves, if desired. Serves 8.

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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School News

Send news and hi-res photos to Schools@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline Monday Noon • Questions? Call Editor Ed at 718-908-5555

Cahal YOSSers at Nautilus

HANC Plainview tykes do chesed, aiding diaper bank Students at HANC Plainview’s Early Childhood Center will share their leftover diapers with children in need. The Early Childhood Center teamed up with the Allied Foundation’s Long Island Diaper Bank to create the first satellite location for diaper drop-offs. As each HANC student “graduates” from potty training, they celebrate by bringing in their leftover diapers and passing them along to children who cannot afford their own. One in 3 families struggle with diaper needs, and of these, 3 in 5 will miss work or school due to lack of sufficient diapers, making the Diaper

After learning about several mitzvot bein adam lechaveiro, CAHAL Yeshiva of South Shore sixth- and seventh-graders put their lessons into action with a visit to the Nautilus Hotel, an assisted living facility in Atlantic Beach. Teachers and students danced and sang for the residents, setting the tone for the Yom Tov season. The highlight of the event was the opportunity to connect with residents oneon-one, sharing stories, listening attentively, and asking questions. Rabbi Chananya Grinberg, Mr. Justin Lepolstat and Rabbi Moshe Salhanick created a memorable experience for the class and residents. The event was coordinated by Melody Kassover, Nautilus activities director.

HANC celebrates the Rosh Chodesh of Kislev

HANC High School was bursting with excitement at a Rosh Chodesh Kislev gala breakfast. The festivities began with a siyum on Mesechet Shabbat by senior Jonah Rocheeld, then segued into the presentation of a victory banner to our championship Torah Bowl team. The event culminated in a riveting school-

Bank a vital addition to our community. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Diaper Drop Box took place at HANC Plainview in conjunction with celebrating World Kindness Day. We believe that children can do chessed from a young age, and there is certainly no better way to learn that lesson than by experiencing it. What better way for a child to celebrate a milestone than by passing along the items they no longer need, but that someone else definitely does? At left: News12 Long Island reporter Elisa DiStefano poses with newly donated diapers.

wide game of HANC Taboo that captivated the crowd until the winning eleventh-grade team walked away with prizes. Thank you to Director of Student Life Rabbi Daniel Mezei and the Student Life Team for organizing this fantastic morning. We are looking forward to an amazing Chanukah 5779.

HAFTR sibling lunch

HALB hosts chief of Dist. 14 schools

Seventh graders “big siblings” helped their sixth grade “little siblings” feel welcome at the Middle School Big/Little Sibling Lunch.

Kerem B’Yavneh dinner

School District 14 Superintendent Ralph Marino visited HALB to strengthen the relationship between public schools and day schools in the community. Marino observed HALB’s facilties and classrooms and said he was very impressed.

Guests enjoyed divrei Torah from Rav Moshe Stav and the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Aharon Friedman. Rabbi Uri and Nava Orlian, who serve as rabbi and rebbetzin at Congregation Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence, were honored with the Marbitzei Torah Award presented by Rabbi Mordechai Willig. A special video tribute, “KBY Dorei Dorot,” featured 15 secondand third-generation KBY students currently among the over 75 overseas talmidim in the yeshiva this year. Rosh Yeshiva Rav Aharon Friedman

Left to right: Rebbetzin & Rabbi Orlian; Rabbi Willig; Rosh Yeshiva Rav Aharon Friedman; Rabbi Baruch Freedman, Director, American Friends of KBY

Can there be peace as P’stinians teach hate?

THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

By Israel Kasnett, JNS children and youth as the most vulnerable memPalestinian incitement against Israel runs ram- bers of society.” pant in the West Bank and Gaza, with school textIMPACT-SE CEO Marcus Sheff tells JNS, “The books full of hatred and maps of the Middle East new curriculum is more radical than the curricuthat erase Israel. The Palestinian Authority con- lum that came before it. It is more radical across stantly incites against Israel in its television and subjects. Peacemaking as a way to resolve conflict radio programs, so it comes as no surprise that does not exist in this curriculum.” Palestinian society regards Israelis as the enemy. He continues, “Palestinian students are educatIt’s also no shock that many Palestinians ed for jihad, martyrdom and constant war. There have carried out terrorist attacks on Israelis. is now a systematic attempt by the P.A. — after One attack stands out for Micah Avni. looking at all 173 books across the curriculum — Shortly after 10 am on a beautiful Tuesday to radicalize generation after generation of young morning on Oct. 13, 2015, the No. 78 Egged bus turned the corner in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood. At a bus stop, two Palestinian men — Baha Alyan and Bilal Abu Ghanem, residents of the adjacent neighborhood Jabel Mukaber — boarded, and began shooting and stabbing indiscriminately. A security guard at the scene overpowered and killed Alyan. Ghanem locked the bus doors to stop security forces from boarding, and passengers from fleeing. Police officers opened fire at him from outside the bus. He was arrested and eventually jailed. Avni’s father, Richard Lakin, 76, was A Palestinian teacher in Nablus lectures on the life of the late on that bus. He was shot in the head and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the 12th anniversary of stabbed multiple times. Evacuated by an his death, in 2016. Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90 emergency medical team, he was hospitalized in the ICU at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital Palestinians to keep them ready for violence, to in Jerusalem, where he underwent multiple sur- explain to them what that violence should look geries. He died two weeks later on Oct. 27. like and the fruits of what that violence should Lakin was a former principal at Hopewell El- be. What they are doing is saying ‘sacrifice yourementary School in Glastonbury, Conn. He wrote selves.’ It is child abuse on a grand scale.” a book in 2007 titled Teaching as an Act of Love: Palestinian students believe what they are beThoughts and Reflections of a Former Teacher, ing taught because, as Sheff asserts, “textbooks Principal and Kid. Upon moving to Israel 32 years are authoritative.” earlier, he and his wife opened a business focused The 2016 curriculum was supposed to be reon teaching English to people of all ages and back- formed. Instead, according to Sheff, “there is real grounds, including Palestinian children from the radicalization in these textbooks. We have looked area. He taught up until the day of the attack. into every single line of the old and new PalestinPalestinian Media Watch, a research institute ian curriculum. And the most bizarre element of that studies Palestinian society from a broad this is that it is being paid for, to a large extent, by range of perspectives, discovered that a Palestin- the European Union and European nations.” ian public library in El-Bireh, 15 kilometers north He says he shows the textbooks to European of Jerusalem, recently held a “cultural evening” leaders, who appear shocked. “There is a paratitled “In the Presence of the Martyrs,” at which it digm which they are very much a part of. They honored four terrorists. Among them was Alyan. need to support the Palestinians and inconvenient Nan Jacques Zilberdik, a senior analyst at Pal- truths are not part of that paradigm.” estinian Media Watch, told JNS “I’m not surprised Some countries, like Britain, acknowledge the to see that a Palestinian library honors murderer problem, he says, “but what they will do with this Baha Alyan. The Palestinian Authority has turned is a question. Do they have what it takes to take Alyan into a role model for Palestinian society … on the Palestinian leadership?” “The P.A. is teaching its kids that murdering A recent US bill aims to “require the SecreIsraelis and Jews is as basic a value as reading. I’m tary of State to submit annual reports reviewing appalled, but unfortunately not surprised, that the educational material used by the Palestinian the P.A. contaminates the value of reading with Authority or the United Nations Relief and Works their twisted value of killing Israelis.” Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in Avni is incensed that the P.A. glorifies terror- the West Bank and Gaza, and for other purposes.” ists, especially the one who killed his father. Pales- Sheff says he “hopes it is going to pass.” While tinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas met with Europe is more important to Sheff, since it pays Alyan’s father and commended his actions on P.A. for the curriculum, “the U.S. absolutely needs to TV. The P.A. also pays Alyan a monthly stipend have the legislation in place for if and when they and established a summer camp in his name. are re-involved in any peace process.” The fact that a library was used for incitement Avni lambasts the Palestinian Authority for its especially bothers Avni. incitement. “That is the screaming outrage of this: “My father loved teaching children to read and It’s evil and wrong. Morally, it is corrupting an to love books,” he said. “The Hopewell school set entire society and bringing us farther away from up a library where it teaches children kindness. If ever reaching a peaceful arrangement.” you juxtapose this with the library in the P.A., it He says he has offered “numerous times” to drives home the moral challenge of us as a people speak at schools in eastern Jerusalem, where stuwho are educating for peace, and tragically, the dents could be exposed to the victim’s side. He P.A. is educating its children to hate and kill. With has consistently been rejected. this vicious cycle of hatred and killing, you have “Parents aren’t willing for their children to to go to the root of it.” hear,” he says. “Even when a school approved it, While PMW works to expose Palestinian incite- parents overruled it.” ment, another organization, IMPACT-SE, focuses “Tragically, being turned down again and specifically on this issue. According to its web- again clarifies the point over how they are educatsite, IMPACT “monitors and analyzes education. ing hate and terrorism,” he laments. “It’s imporIt employs international standards on peace and tant that we in Israel, as well as leaders around tolerance as derived from UNESCO declarations the world, understand that as long as the Palesand resolutions to determine compliance and to tinians are teaching hatred within the core of the advocate for change when necessary.” education system and in schools and libraries, you Its aim, it says, “is to prevent radicalization of can’t achieve peace.”

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Johan Huibers and his Noah’s Ark in Dorderecht, the Netherlands, in 2013. Courtesy Arv van Noach

“I wanted to spread G-d’s word in the Netherlands,” he said. But his ambitions grew “when everyone asked me: Why is it only half the size of the one in the Bible? So I sold the smaller one and built a life-size one, too.” Huibers’s ark isn’t the only on. In 2016, Ark Encounter, a creationist theme park featuring an ark built on a biblical scale, opened in Kentucky. But unlike Huibers’s, the boat in the landlocked state does not float. It was built with more than three times his budget. Huibers said his crew was made up of amateur carpenters without real training, adding to the overall authenticity of the vessel. “We had a butcher, a hairdresser and a teacher working here,” he said. “We’re not professional boatmakers. A lot of stuff here is a bit crooked.” The big ark is made of a steel frame and American cedar and pinewood. Its cavernous interior is surrounded by side decks whose impressive size is magnified even further by their curvature. It is relatively dark inside. The ship features an open amphitheater in its center, connected to the raised deck by a series of stairs that many thousands of visitors, most of them children, have climbed.

The ark is currently closed to visitors because of disagreements between Huibers and this municipality. Krimpen aan den IJssel officials say they favor reopening it, but require “certain adjustment,” citing public safety concerns. Huibers said the ship is safe, insured and equipped with better fire extinguishing equipment than required by law. He also claims that the reluctance to allow the ark to open in Krimpen — a highly devout town – owes to how some “very strict individuals consider it a forbidden depiction of G-d’s image.” When it was open to the public, the ark had a small petting zoo, of which only an aviary with parakeets and other small birds remains. Huibers said he does not intend to place living animals in the ark for now, “only to show they could fit.” The boat features stalls, larders and internal gutters for the disposal of refuse. In addition to wanting to give schoolchildren a tangible experience of Noah’s Ark, Huibers had darker reasons for building the two wooden vessels. “I believe we are living in the end of times,” he said. “We’re not conscious of it. People never are.” Growing up in a low-lying country whose population has been fighting back water for more than 1,000 years has given Huibers a better understanding than many of the risks of flooding. He was born five years after the North Sea flood of 1959, which killed more than 2,000 people in a society still crippled by the devastating effects of World War II. “The water is going to come. From the mountains, from the sea, through Germany. Just like in 1959,” he said. “It sound’s like doom and gloom. But I’m not afraid of it.” The ark, though, isn’t designed to save Huibers’s life or family, he said. “It’s meant to educate, a reminder that our world is changing, will continue to change, as we see now because of global warming, rising sea levels, fires. … And to show people that G-d exists.” As he prepares to take the ark to Israel, he is busy with another project involving water and the Holy Land. Huibers has designed a gravity-based system that he says would transport water from the coastal desalinization plants through the desert and into the shrinking Dead Sea. In case of a calamity, Huibers does keep a few boats for his family, he said, noting that one of them can hold 100 people. “Maybe we’ll end up saving the neighborhood one day,” he said.

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By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA Krimpen aan den IJssel, Netherlands — For two years, the world’s only seaworthy life-size replica of Noah’s Ark has been wowing passengers along Holland’s Maas River. Built according to the specifications of the Hebrew Bible, the 390-foot-long vessel towers to a height of 75 feet. It boasts enough wood to fell 12,000 trees. And its distinct form dominates the coastline of the small town hosting it, deep in southern Holland’s so-called Bible Belt. Dwarfing even some modern cruise ships, the ark instantly became an international tourist attraction when it was completed in 2012 after four years of construction. But the man who built it, devout Christian businessman Johan Huibers, who made a fortune building storage spaces, can’t wait to take the mammoth to Israel — a country whose problems and successes, he said, are always on his mind. “My preferred destination for the ark is Israel,” Huibers, 60, told JTA on the forward deck, which features a life-size statue of a giraffe. His love for the Jewish state and people, he said, flows from the same impulse that compelled him to raise nearly $5 million to build the ark. “It may sound scary, but I believe everything written in this book, cover to cover,” he said while pointing at a Dutch Bible. “This is a copy of G-d’s ship. It only makes sense to take it to G-d’s land.” Huibers said he built it with just seven people over four years, proving that Noah’s Ark could indeed have been built by Noah. He got the idea from reading a story about the ark to his children after supper one evening in 1993. “I wondered whether someone, Disney perhaps, had already built a replica of the ark,” he said. “And then I said out loud that if none had, I would.” Huibers’s daughter Deborah excitedly relayed the news to her mother, Huibers’s wife, but it drew little more than an incredulous chuckle. “She told the kids that after I finish building my ark, we can all go on vacation to the moon,” he recalled. Thirteen years later, Huibers completed his first replica, dubbed “Johan’s Ark” by Dutch media. It was 230 feet long and 33 feet wide, the maximum measurements for any vessel seeking to negotiate Holland’s canals.

THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

A Dutch ‘Noah’ wants to sail his Ark to Israel

‘Team of angels’ helps amputee find reason to live By Raphael Poch Two weeks ago, United Hatzalah “Ten Kavod” volunteers from Kfar Saba set out on a mission to dramatically improve an elderly water-sports enthusiast’s quality of life by helping him experience the sea in a way that he had not done since a life-changing double amputation. Yehuda, a 72-year-old from Kfar Saba, became bedridden as the result of a medical procedure gone wrong. A serious infection caused him to lose both legs and severely damaged his spine. The United Hatzalah project brings Yehuda to visit the sea once a month and has saved his life. Yehuda and his wife, Tova, explained that his condition left him feeling hopeless to the point that he had made arrangements for voluntary euthanasia in Switzerland. “Two years ago, Yehuda underwent an operation due to a slipped disk. He was swimming and wasn’t able to swim more than 70 meters. He used to swim extensively. I knew something was wrong and brought him to a doctor,” explained Tova, a former emergency room chief nurse with five decades of experience. “He received a series of epidural shots to deal with the pain. Soon afterwards, he started to lose the ability to move his legs. We brought him to the E.R., and we found that an infection from the shots had destroyed the blood vessels in his legs and damaged his spine. Yehuda suffered severe sepsis and had to have both of his legs amputated. The infection changed our lives forever,” said Tova. “Neither of us were what people would call ‘old.’” We were both very active. Then he had all of that taken away from him.” “I don’t have much to live for or even to look forward to anymore,” said Yehuda. “I was ready to end everything. My wife and I still love each other. We have been married for 48 years. But the inability to move on my own is simply too much to deal with. The fact that I can’t swim or enjoy the water is very difficult for me. “The trips that United Hatzalah takes me on to see the sea are the only times that I have left to look forward to,” he continued. “I live in those moments when the volunteers come and take me to the sea. This past trip, when they organized for me to go on a yacht, was something that dreams are made of. I will remember it for the rest of my days,” he said. “There are no words for the good that United Hatzalah has done for us,” added Tova. “Yehuda’s mind is fine, but his body is not. The ‘Ten Kavod’ project allows him to ‘escape’ from his body

United Hatzalah “Ten Kavod” volunteers lifting Yehuda, a 72-yearold from Kfar Saba, an elderly water sports enthusiast, aboard a boat.

for a short time to remind him of the beauty in the world and the reasons to keep on living.” Yehuda says he is thankful for the volunteers’ efforts in organizing these monthly trips, which are always done with an ambulance and experienced medical staff on hand to handle the logistics of transporting him and to assist if needed during the trip. “The United Hatzalah team here is a team of angels — every single one of them. Whenever they visit, it gives me the ability to keep going. It gives me something to look forward to.” United Hatzalah’s “Ten Kavod” program sends fully trained medical volunteers to visit elderly patients, many of whom live on their own. The volunteers provide free medical checkups and companionship. Sometimes, as in Yehuda’s case, the volunteers do even more. Shmuel Agassi, an EMT and volunteer from Kfar Saba, visits Yehuda and Tova weekly, and was instrumental in making the trip a reality. Together with Nitzan Raich, chapter head of United Hatzalah

in Kfar Saba, Agassi reached out to volunteers who found a yacht large enough for Yehuda and a captain willing to assist. It took only a few hours to find the right person: yacht captain and United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Tzvika Sperling performed the necessary safety checks to ensure that Yehuda (and his bed), as well as his family, would be able to sail on his yacht safely. “Our mission is to help the elderly in the city as much as possible with whatever they need,” said Raich. “For some of our patients, we perform electrical repairs in their homes or do other odd jobs around the house — anything that they need help with. We have volunteers who are electricians and others who are handymen. They each lend their skills when needed. Some of our patients don’t have much money, so we help them obtain basic groceries from volunteers who are food suppliers and store owners. Yehuda needs a different type of help.” Raich said that in Yehuda’s case, the team is providing support to a hero who sometimes feels that he has lost the things that brought him joy. “Yehuda is a person who has given a lot to society, to our community, to the country in his service in the IDF and to his family. He has been through it all and survived it all. He loves his country and has even given a lot to us — the volunteers who help him.” Raich acknowledged that preparing for the boat trip took more than two weeks of logistical work, “but we made it happen for Yehuda. He is a very special man, and everyone knows him and loves him, so all of our volunteers were happy to help.” The three-hour trip was chaperoned by a fully equipped ambulance team on the boat, plus another team at the dock that transported Yehuda from his home to the marina and back. The boat was outfitted with special equipment that so that Yehuda could enjoy the trip from the deck while safely secured in his bed. “The joy that showed on his face was something that I will never forget,” said Sperling. At the end of the day, Yehuda said to the volunteers: “Today was a compensation.” “Compensation for what?” they asked. “Compensation for the tragedy that I suffered through. You volunteers and what you do for me are a shining light amid an otherwise dark existence,” he said. “This boat ride for me was the greatest kindness that you could do. There are not enough words to thank you.”

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November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

When America doubted my grandmother’s loyalty First Person By Oren Hayon HOUSTON — After my grandmother Jeannette died in December 1996, the process of settling her estate worked in the same way it does in most families: There was a house to be sold and possessions to be distributed. The surviving family members were left with a few souvenirs of my grandparents’ lives and a hefty mound of paperwork to be processed: health insurance and pension forms, tax documents and medical documents, all neatly packed into cardboard boxes and thick manila envelopes. In the 20-plus years since the estate was resolved, I hadn’t given much thought to those mounds of paperwork until last month, when my mother and I found a curious file among my grandmother’s belongings. It was a large black binder marked “CONFIDENTIAL,” stuffed full of letters and memoranda typed on crinkly onionskin paper and featuring the seal of the Department of Justice stamped on its cover. As I pored through the hundreds of typed pages packed into the binder, I began piecing together this story about loyalty and patriotism. Those documents testify to an uneasy chapter of our nation’s history and my family’s role in it. My first impression was that finding a confidential government file in my grandparents’ paperwork was unusual, but by no means surprising, since both of them had spent time as federal government employees. In addition to his military service, my grandfather Lou had been employed by the Works Progress Administration and the Postal Service. My grandmother had worked for the Department of the Interior and later for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She in particular had distinguished herself with exemplary service on behalf of the United States. While Lou was overseas fighting in World War II, my grandmother took a job as a clerk in the Army Signal Corps, where she received two commendations for her contributions toward the war effort. After the war, and my grandfather’s safe return to the United States, Lou and Jeannette Kern moved from New York to El Paso, Texas, where Jeannette began her job with INS, processing deportation paperwork for foreign nationals. One day, in the early fall of 1948, a telegram arrived at their home addressed to my grandmother. Its terse syntax barked: “reply justice department … detailed questions concerning charges, complete history her life, family, relatives, organizations she might be connacted [sic] with and definite request for formal hearing.” The two of them must have been baffled: “justice department”? “formal hearing”? What on earth could this mean? A test of loyalty Soon afterward, a letter from Washington, D.C., made everything chillingly clear: Jeannette had been charged with “sympathetic association with the Communist Party of the United States … within the purview of Executive Order No. 9835.” The letter contained no additional details, but it advised that a hearing on Jeannette’s case would be held on Nov. 16, 1948. Jeannette and Lou quickly dashed off panicked letters to an attorney friend. How should they respond to the charges? Could this be a mistake? The charges of Communist sympathy were false, of course, but what would the taint of these accusations mean for their livelihood? What would it to do their infant daughter — my mother — who had just turned a year old? They wrote a letter to Kansas Sen. Clyde Reed, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking for his assistance and guidance, but received a letter from Washington advising them that Reed was on vacation and unable to respond. The correspondence makes it clear that genuine fear had begun to set in. November quickly arrived, and Jeannette dutifully appeared, as directed, before the Loyalty Board, set up by order of President Harry Truman the year before to root out communists among federal employees and job applicants.

A letter from the Justice Department Loyalty Board dated March 15, 1949, and a telegram from a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee demand that the author’s grandmother answer questions about “the complete history of her life.”

Jeanette Kern, left, receiving one of the two commendations she received for her work during World War II as a clerk in the Army Signal Corps, July 27, 1944.

She was, understandably, unsure about what to expect. The hearing minutes record her appeals to the committee that she be given additional time to retain a lawyer and prepare a defense. The committee, hoping for a swift resolution of the charges, initially was disinclined to grant the request, but after several rounds of back-and-forth negotiation the members were convinced to accept a postponement. The hearing was pushed back to April 6, 1949. This was good news for my grandmother, of course, but her relief was short-lived. In this El Paso courtroom, she saw something that made her heart sink: the court stenographer. She knew her. It was a woman named Connie, a notorious gossip who worked in the steno pool at my grandmother’s office. Jeannette realized with a growing sense of panic that news about this hearing would surely spread throughout her workplace and beyond. Any hopes she had for a discreet dismissal instantly evaporated. ‘Do you know the Shapiros?’ The months before the new hearing flew past; Jeannette prepared frantically with the help of an attorney, Ernest Guinn. At last April 6 arrived, and my grandparents appeared before the Loyalty Board in the U.S. Court House in El Paso. Guinn opened with a request for only fair evidence and competent witnesses to be admitted into the record for deliberation. A board member quickly reassured the attorney that Jeannette was not on trial; this was just an informal “administrative proceeding.” But of course this also meant, he added slyly, that the hearing “is not bound by the strict rules of evidence adhered to in the courts.” After the opening statements, the Loyalty Board laid out their evidence for my grandmother being a communist. • Her mother, who lived with them back in the Bronx, had emigrated from Russia to the United States. • Jeannette had attended a meeting of the “Southern Conference for Human Welfare,” an early civil rights groups, and government informants had reported that others who attended these meetings had “communistic sympathies.” • One of her childhood friends suggested to the FBI that Jeannette was “communistically inclined” after she interfered with the friend’s teenage romance with her boyfriend. • A statement from a former neighbor that “I believe they are Communists because they had large pictures of Lenin and Trotsky on the wall of their apartment.” (This statement puzzled my grandparents. Their best guess was that the neighbor had seen family photos of Jewish relatives who wore thick beards and mistook them for Russian revolutionaries.) The board began to question my grandmother with intensity. They asked about her employment with the government, seizing on the fact that she had a security clearance, and that her secretarial work had involved administrative tasks with lists of U.S. warships in foreign wa-

ters. To counter, Guinn called upon Davis Green, a close friend of my grandparents, to testify to Jeannette’s patriotism. The Loyalty Board grilled him on his political affiliation and point out, for the record, that he was a Democrat who supported liberal causes. After they finished with Green, the board members turned their attention back to Jeannette and asked about her acquaintances. Curiously, almost all of the people they inquired about appeared to be Jews. “You know the Shapiros? ... Did you associate with a Sarah Klein? … Do you know a person named Anna Gelb? … Do you know an Eva Rosenbaum? ... Have you become close friends with Mrs. Nathalie Gross?” they asked. At this, Jeannette finally had enough and snapped back: “No, she is positively obnoxious.” My grandmother’s Jewish identity continued to hold the Loyalty Board’s attention. The members asked at length about her work with Zionist organizations and her involvement in “the Palestine situation.” The interrogation included numerous questions about the Yiddish press: “Do you read newspapers from New York? … Do you read the Morning Freiheit? … Did the Daily Worker come in to your home?” The board even called my grandparents’ rabbi, Joseph Roth, to testify about their character. Eventually the Loyalty Board exhausted its questions about Jeannette’s Jewish identity and turned its attention to the time and money she devoted to social welfare causes in her community, which appeared to raise suspicion in their minds. Yes, she asserted, she had been trying “to do a little bit to help” with racial tensions in Texas. “I remember one time a white man killed a Negro woman, and he was being set free,” she recounted. “[I tried] to interest people in becoming more community conscious.” The board seemed to think that Jeannette’s sympathy for the victims of racism was a sign of communist tendencies. The members asked pointedly, “You are not opposed to employing Negroes as household servants? Or Mexicans?” Changing tactics, they began asking Jeannette about her political opinions: Should the U.S. abandon its position in Berlin? Are you in favor of the Marshall Plan? And the Atlantic Pact? Are you for the abandonment of our position in Japan? Noting that her husband had been stationed in the Philippines during the war, they asked if she would have liked our overseas soldiers to come home quickly. She agreed that she would have, and they pounced, exclaiming that this position “happened to be a Communist Party line.” The transcript continues through many more pages, and it includes the testimony of numerous witnesses and voluminous material (Exhibits A through T) introduced as evidence. Eventually the Loyalty Board heard enough and adjourned the hearing to deliberate. My grandmother went home and waited. She didn’t hear anything for 2-1/2 months. It’s hard to imagine how frightened and trapped she must have felt. She was a new

mother with few friends in a community she did not know well, forced to defend herself against false accusations that, even if disproven, would threaten her professional livelihood and reputation. And she was swiftly arriving at the conclusion that some of the things she believed in most strongly — Jewish life, progressive politics, racial equity, the safe return of U.S. soldiers — could be used as evidence that she was a communist and a threat to America. Patriotism and xenophobia At last, on June 25, 1949, my grandmother received her verdict: a letter affirming in a onesentence statement that the Loyalty Board of the U.S. Department of Justice had ruled in her favor and that all charges against her had been dismissed. Until a few weeks ago, no one but my grandmother knew about the black binder. My best guess is that she kept her story a secret because of how the painful memories. It must have been difficult for her to be reminded how simple it was for an overzealous government bureaucrat or a grudge-wielding neighbor to derail a fellow American’s good reputation and cast doubt on her patriotism. As I reflect on these events in my grandmother’s life, I am left wondering if our country has learned anything at all since she sat in that El Paso courtroom. Today, Jews are still painfully aware that no matter how “American” we may feel, we can easily be accused of divided loyalties. Politicians sow fear of immigrants, stoking suspicion among neighbors. A simple mistake, a scurrilous rumor or “foreign-looking” family members can leave us vulnerable to others’ suspicions that we cannot be trusted — or, as we have seen in recent days, vulnerable even to violence. My grandmother’s case offers an early glimpse into this aspect of our national culture, which would continue to corrode in the years that followed. Her hearing in the spring of 1949 was 5-1/2 years before Senator McCarthy would finally be chastened: “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” We are, thankfully, several decades beyond the paranoia of McCarthyism, but its tenacious cells still sleep in the veins of fear beneath our nation’s skin. Today one can witness firsthand how easily some Americans’ love of our country can metastasize into a strain of xenophobia so pernicious that they can be convinced to turn against their fellow citizens. Seventy years after my grandmother was summoned before a committee of the federal Justice Department, anti-Semitism is ascendant once again across America. And once more it is garbed in the belief that Jews cannot be fully American, that our values threaten the integrity of the nation that has been our beloved home for centuries. When we discovered the nondescript black binder among my grandmother’s belongings, we had no idea what secrets it would hold. We could never have predicted the story that those yellowing photographs and official documents would tell. And, I confess, we never expected that the historical territory through which that binder led us would look quite this familiar. Oren J. Hayon is spiritual leader of Congregation Emanu El in Houston, Texas.

tourists looking for a getaway. What concerns her is the ideological blow that she says settlers like her have suffered at the hands of a tech company with lofty ideals. “When we registered to Airbnb, they wrote ‘it’s a community of all the world, everyone hosts each other, everyone loves each other,’” Shapira told JTA. “And suddenly they’re saying ‘no, you cannot host, you are not part of it.’” Airbnb’s decision will impact the modest business of settlement tourism, but stakeholders across the ideological spectrum cast the debate mostly in ideological terms. For the movement seeking to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and for those who want to boycott settlements or Israel as a whole, the decision is a significant victory. For the Israeli government and other supporters of settlements, it’s a call

to arms. “We found that the settlement enterprise involves severe violations of human rights,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, which has been asking Airbnb to remove the settlement listings since 2016. “There’s no way a business can operate in a settlement without contributing to serious human rights abuse.” When protests began in 2016, Airbnb did not take action. But along with Human Rights Watch, a campaign under the name Airbnb: Say No to Stolen Homes pushed Airbnb to remove the settlement listings through public protests and a petition delivered to its offices in San Francisco. “We would come out, and we have video of them very graciously taking the petition in San

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By Ben Sales, JTA The guesthouse, advertised as “Tranquility of the Valley,” boasts a hot tub, a patio that faces west toward the setting sun, and picturesque views of farmland and hills. It’s available at $134 per night on Airbnb. For now. That will change soon as this rental listing, along with some 200 others, will be removed from Airbnb, the short-term apartment rental website. After two years of protests by pro-Palestinian activists, the company announced last week that it will take down all listings in Israeliowned homes in Judea and Samaria. But Moriya Shapira, who owns the guesthouse in Shiloh, isn’t too worried about money. While she knows she will lose business, Shapira hopes to make it up by advertising on other websites and networks popular with Israeli

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19 THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Airbnb’s impact on Judea-Samaria

Francisco,” said Granate Kim, communications director for Jewish Voice for Peace, a left-wing group that backs the BDS movement. The statement Airbnb released names a few concerns with the listings, including that critics say “companies should not profit on lands where people have been displaced” and that listings in settlements may be “contributing to existing human suffering.” “We concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians,” the statement said. “Our hope is that someday sooner rather than later, a framework is put in place where the entire global community is aligned so there will be a resolution to this historic conflict and a clear path forward for everybody to follow.” An Airbnb spokesperson did not respond to follow-up questions by JTA. The Israeli government has protested the move, with Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan calling for a boycott of Airbnb in response. “There are enough competitors, we do not need them,” Erdan said. Israel advocates have also criticized Airbnb for singling out Israel amid a world of conflicts and allegations of human rights abuses. “Airbnb has not de-listed rentals in any othSee Airbnb on page 30 990909

New series eyes centuries of Russian Jewish life By Ben Harris for Genesis Philanthropy Group In 1894, a Jewish military officer in France, Alfred Dreyfus, was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason for allegedly passing state secrets to the enemy. When evidence came to light proving his innocence, the government covered it up and slapped the accused with additional charges based on falsified evidence. Dreyfus was tried again and found guilty, framed for no other reason than the fact that he was a Jew. Years passed before he was finally retried, pardoned and his name cleared. Today, the incident that came to be known as the Dreyfus Affair stands as a famous case of anti-Semitism. Not long after, in a case that bears striking similarities to Dreyfus’ but is far less well-known, Menachem Beilis was tried in Ukraine for murdering a 13-year-old boy. That case included the charge that Beilis had killed the child for Jewish ritual purposes. The Beilis case is dramatically recounted in an epic three-part documentary about Russian Jewry that the film’s funder, Genesis Philanthropy Group, hopes will revive interest in Russian Jewish history after decades of suppression under communism. “Many Russian-speaking Jews are not well versed in their own history,” said Mikhail Fridman, a co-founder and board member of the group. “This film aims both to document that history and spark an ongoing conversation about the unique contributions of Russian Jews.” Decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, many Russian-speaking Jews do not know that history. “For 70 years, the Soviet regime tried to do everything in its power to strip its Jewish citizens of pride in their heritage and of their connection to the Jewish narrative,” said Ilia Salita, president and CEO of the Genesis Philanthropy Group. “Such an effort has had a long-lasting effect. Therefore it should come as no surprise to anyone that the contributions of Russian-speaking Jews are not known well, and quite often are not attributed correctly either.” The film eschews broad historical narrative in favor of short vignettes of prominent figures and significant episodes in Russian Jewish history, from medieval times through the fall of communism. Narrated by Leonid Parfenov, Russia’s preeminent television journalist and the creator of more than a dozen TV documentaries about Russian history, the three-part documentary covers a vast stretch of history, though its content is heavily weighted toward the 20th century.

A scene from the new three-part documentary series about Russian Jewish history. Studio Namdeni

Given the lack of film footage for much of the period under discussion, filmmakers resorted to innovative techniques. One method used repeatedly is animating historic photographs of key figures, while an actor speaks the words of their writings or speeches. “Our computer graphics artist cut out a face from a historic portrait and put it onto an actor’s face like a mask, then merged this mask with the actor’s facial expressions and voila — the photograph is alive,” said Sergey Nurmamed, the film’s director and Parfenov’s longtime collaborator. “This is how we made an impression of Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin and other well-known figures delivering their speeches as if they were shot on camera a long time ago.” The nearly six-hour documentary, which is available with English and Hebrew subtitles, presents Russian Jewish history as one of breathtaking accomplishment achieved despite the systematic denial of full Jewish civil rights — and often outright oppression. Prior to the revolution, Jews were largely confined to shtetls in the Pale of Settlement, but some — like the Brodsky brothers, 19th-century sugar magnates who founded schools, hospitals and arts institutions — still managed to achieve wealth and influence. The 1917 revolution inaugurated a period of Jewish advancement. Many Jews, driven by rampant anti-Semitism, became prominent revolutionaries fiercely opposing the czar’s regime. Five of the original nine delegates who formed the Bolshevik Party were

Jewish. Leon Trotsky (born Lev Davidovich Bronstein) became the head of the Red Army. Maxim Litvinov (born Meir Henoch Wallach-Finkelstein) became the top Soviet diplomat in 1930. In the new world the Bolsheviks sought to build, ideological commitments — not ethnic origins — were of paramount concern. Lenin described Trotsky’s Jewish origins as “trifles” that should not obstruct his rise in the hierarchy. In what can be seen as evidence of Jewish assimilation in the period following the revolution, Jews often were on opposite sides of various internal battles. It was Nahum Eitingon, a Belarussian Jew, who plotted Trotsky’s assassination in Mexico. “Least of all did Eitingon think that he, a Jew, would send assassins to kill another Jew,” Parfenov says in the film as he strolls the streets around the Mexico City house where Trotsky was murdered. “No, he thought of himself as a Soviet patriot carrying out a Soviet mission to eliminate a vicious enemy of the USSR and a personal enemy of Stalin.” All this began to change as Stalin drew closer to Hitler (before they turned on each other in 1941) and collapsed entirely in the postwar era. People were identified on state documents as Jews, and again were considered suspect by the government and the public. As a result, Jews again emerged as some of the foremost opponents of the country’s regime, this time leading the anti-Soviet movement. “The passion which the Jews had previously brought to the Soviet idea was now brought to the anti-Soviet idea,” Parfenov says in the film. Salita says one of the Genesis Philanthropy Group’s two goals for the film already has been met: having it seen by as many people as possible. According to Salita, the film broke documentary box office records in Russia, where it was released in theaters, and racked up approximately 4 million views between the organization’s YouTube channel and Parfenov’s channel, Parfenon. The English-subtitled version is also available on YouTube. Beyond the box office, Salita hopes the film will serve as an enduring documentary that will inspire future generations of Russian Jews to take pride in their unique heritage and the prominent Jewish role in Russian history. “It’s our hope and expectation that the film will continue to live and evoke interest in the topic,” Salita said, “provoking conversation about the complexity of the community and its contribution to the Jewish world and humanity at large.”

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THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

By Ben Sales, JTA Teresa Shook says she likes to work “behind the scenes.” But last week, the woman who cofounded the Women’s March thrust herself front and center by calling its leadership to step down. Shook, a retired attorney from the Hawaiian town of Hana, posted a Facebook event that became the January 2017 Women’s March protest. But after controversy resurfaced about ties between Tamika Mallory, a Women’s March cochair, and Louis Farrakhan, the virulent anti-Semite who leads the Nation of Islam, Shook called on the progressive movement’s leadership to step down. Another co-chair of the Women’s March is Linda Sarsour, the Palestinian-American liberal activist who has become a divisive figure in the Jewish community due to her anti-Israel activism. Shook wrote last Monday on Facebook that Mallory and Sarsour, along with their co-chairs Carmen Perez and Bob Bland, “have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs.” “They’ve lost the trust of the community,” Shook told JTA. “You can’t keep saying you’re going to do something and not do it. There’s no trust left, and people don’t feel safe to speak their minds without being attacked.” Since 2017, Shook has receded from leadership, staying involved locally in Hawaii. She plans to attend the 2019 March in January but does not expect to speak from the podium. Shook said she has stayed in intermittent touch with Bland, but did not reach out privately to the co-chairs before posting her message. “I have had enough communication with them on other matters,” Shook told JTA. “Basi-

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By Yossi Lempkowicz, European Jewish Press Despite increasing anti-Semitism, European Jews, who feel safer in the eastern than western part of the continent, have no plans to emigrate anytime soon, according to a fourth survey by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Center for Community Development, which closely analyzes European Jewry. According to the survey, 76 percent of respondents said that in the past five years, they have not made plans to emigrate due to antiJewish vitriol, while just 19 percent said otherwise. At the same time, 63 percent of respondents said they felt “rather safe,” 20 percent “very safe,” 13 percent “rather unsafe” and 4 percent “not safe at all.” Additionally, 96 percent of Eastern European Jewish respondents said they felt safer compared to 76 percent of Western European Jewish respondents. However, 66 percent of respondents answered that they expect anti-Semitism to worsen in the next decade, though 73 percent are satisfied with their government’s response to security issues in Jewish communities. Moreover, 83 percent of respondents concurred that all Jews have an obligation to support Israel, and 85 percent said that Jewish communities should provide opportunities for members to give diverse opinions regarding Israel and its policies. Finally, the survey revealed that intermarriage is no longer seen as an issue in European Jewish communities, as that rate decreased to 40 percent in 2018 from 44 percent in 2015, and

64 percent in 2008 — years when this survey was administered. The survey sample consisted of 893 respondents from 29 countries polled in 10 languages. They included those under age of 40 and over 55, ranging from secular to Orthodox, and were divided between 416 men and 217 women. However, at a recent conference in Brussels on fighting anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Association, Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said that almost half of UK Jews have considered emigrating due to rising anti-Semitism. Ninety percent believe that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party is anti-Semitic and that Jews should refrain from supporting it. “Jeremy Corbyn has demonstrated over the course of many years that he is an anti-Semite. There can be nothing good to expect from an anti-Semitic prime minister,” Falter told European Jewish Press. “We are in a situation where the Labour Party is directly contributing to the British Jews feeling that they should consider leaving Britain,” he said. He said that a “very small number of British Jews” were packing their bags. “They are certainly considering their future in view of Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.” Asked what should be done to change the situation, he said: “We have referred the Labour party to the political Human Rights Commission in the UK. We believe that the institutions of the Labour party have becoming corrupted by anti-Semitism, and you can’t ask anti-Semites to clear out an anti-Semitic political party.”

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By Ron Kampeas, JTA termined with the Holocaust in memory. WASHINGTON — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “The laws we have today in this country were is just one of 435 members of the incoming U.S. based on the U.N. convention of 1951, which House of Representatives, but her youth, sur- was based on Jewish refugees being turned prise primary win in her Queens-Bronx district away during World War II,” she said. against a Democratic Party veteran, socialism That’s why, Nezer said, it made sense for and, above all, outspokenness — including criti- Ocasio-Cortez to invoke not only the Jews cism of Israel — have attracted outsize atten- turned away in the 1930s and ’40s, but subsetion. So when Ocasio-Cortez, 29, likened the crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border to Jewish refugees turned away before World War II, reactions came thick and fast. “Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime,” Ocasio Cortez said Sunday on Twitter after U.S. border agents repelled Central American migrants with tear gas. “It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany. It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. Migrants climb up a bank of the nearly dry Tijuana River as they attempt It wasn’t for communities to make their way past a police blockade to the El Chaparral port on SunMario Tama/Getty Images fleeing war-torn Syria. day. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America.” quent refugee crises. Attached to her tweet was a now-viral Re“The point she was making, and I think it uters photo of a mother fleeing the tear gas was an appropriate one, was that countries must clutching two toddlers, one in diapers. hear asylum claims,” said Nezer, who added that A number of conservatives have sought to de- the Trump administration’s shutdown of the fine Ocasio-Cortez as clueless and naïve. Some border at Tijuana was unprecedented in recent suggested that she was likening the migrants history and, in HIAS’s view, illegal. Trump has labeled “invaders” to the 6 million Mort Klein, president of the Zionist OrganiJews who perished in the Nazi Holocaust. zation of America and the son of Jewish refu“New York Democratic Rep.-elect Alexandria gees, has become the most outspoken defender Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday compared members of Trump’s immigration policies among Jewish of the migrant caravan attempting to enter the organization heads. In a series of tweets SunUnited States to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany dur- day, Klein suggested that the Central American ing the Holocaust” was how the conservative on- migrants aren’t actually refugees. line news site the Daily Caller framed its report. “Stop illegal immigration. They’re mostly “I recommend she take a tour of the Holo- healthy looking young men,” he said in one caust Museum in DC,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- tweet, referring to the migrants at Tijuana. S.C., said Monday in his own tweet. “Might help He also asserted, “If these illegals were all her better understand the differences between conservatives who would likely vote republican, the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana.” none of these leftwing supporters of these illeHere’s the thing: The U.S. Holocaust Memo- gals would be supporting the illegals. None!” rial Museum did not distance itself from OcasioLater, however, Klein conceded that seeking Cortez’s tweet. Asked for comment, a museum asylum in the U.S. is not illegal. What’s new is a spokesman pointed to its statement in 2017 Trump policy saying those who enter the United when Trump announced plans to shrink refugee States from Mexico between ports of entry are access to the United States. The statement sug- ineligible for asylum. gested it is not out of place to liken the flight of “Any person who is facing serious danger or Jews in the 1930s to subsequent refugee crises, oppression should be given every opportunity even if the conditions in the home countries of for asylum in the United States, just as my parthe asylum seekers differ in scale or torment. ents, survivors of the Holocaust, from Poland “The United States Holocaust Memorial Mu- and Czechoslovakia, were given asylum,” Klein seum is acutely aware of the consequences to tweeted Sunday. the millions of Jews who were unable to flee NaNezer said the Central American refugees zism, as noted in our November 2015 statement were denied the opportunity to apply for refuon the Syrian refugee crisis,” the 2017 statement gee status from a distance the way Jewish refusaid. “The Museum continues to have grave con- gees could from the relative safety of a displaced cern about the global refugee crisis and our re- persons camp. Others say the current system sponse to it. During the 1930s and 1940s, the is not designed to facilitate the processing of United States, along with the rest of the world, large numbers of asylum seekers at the desiggenerally refused to admit Jewish refugees from nated crossing points — especially families — Nazism due to antisemitic and xenophobic atti- although the administration counters that many tudes, harsh economic conditions, and national migrants are gaming the system by falsely claimsecurity fears.” ing persecution back home. The most famous case is that of the St. Lou“A refugee is someone who has crossed a boris, the German “voyage of the damned” turned der because they don’t feel safe in their counaway from the United States and Canada in try,” Nezer said. She said the refugees have little 1939. (Historians estimate that a third of the choice but to turn up at the border and exercise 900 or so Jewish refugees aboard the St. Louis their right to request asylum. perished in the Holocaust.) Canadian Prime “There are no displaced person camps, Minister Justin Trudeau recently apologized for Mexico is not safe for asylum seekers, particuhis nation’s decision to turn away the ship; no larly along the border,” where gangs and drug U.S. president has. smugglers proliferate, Nezer said. “There’s no Melanie Nezer, a vice president of HIAS, the safe place for people to be processed, you’re not lead Jewish refugee organization, said the laws providing them a safe alternative place for them governing how nations accept refugees were de- to apply.”

THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Oy vey, Ocasio-Cortez, a ‘Shoah’-caravan link!

Chad makes historic first visit to Israel

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The president of Chad, Idriss Déby, made a historic visit to Israel on Sunday with a focus on security issues, marking the first visit by a Chadian president since Israel’s founding in 1948. “President Déby, welcome to Israel. Welcome to Jerusalem,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Chadian leader. “This is the first official visit by the President of Chad to the State of Israel. It follows a very long hiatus in our relations.” Chad received weaponry from Israel, with which it cut diplomatic relations in 1972, to fight terrorism. There are other goals Netanyahu said the two nations share: “Give our peoples what they deserve: security, food, water, clean water, health, medicine, all the things that our cooperation can produce for the benefit of both our countries.” “Chad is an important country, a country that fights terror, and Israel is at your side in this just war. We see great importance in developing relations with Africa, the cradle of civilization,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Déby. “For us, Africa is the future, Chad is the future, and Israel wants to share its experience with you.” “Peace is what every people needs to live a good life. I want to say to you that diplomatic relations with Israel would not make the Palestinians disappear,” Déby told Rivlin. “This is a critical issues that must be dealt with, and which generations have experience.” “You Israelis have also experienced a difficult history, but it is important that people talk,” continued Déby. “It is very easy to pull the trigger but it is hard to stop the fighting.” He added, “There is great importance in finding a solution to this problem, a solution that reflects all the decisions taken by the U.N. Security Council on the matter.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin meets with Chad President Idriss Déby on Sunday. Haim Zach/GPO

“I warmly welcome this promising development of improved ties between the Republic of Chad and Israel,” said World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer, calling it “further evidence of the positive role Israel is playing in Africa, including with Muslim-majority countries.” Déby’s visit exemplified Israel’s recent efforts to forge ties with Muslim-majority African countries such as Oman, Bahrain and Sudan. “I hope to come to the center of Africa. And I wish to bring with me Israeli entrepreneurs, Israeli experts, Israeli companies, everything that can improve the life of the peoples of Africa, which is something we believe in,” Netanyahu told Déby. “Israel is coming back to Africa … Africa is coming back to Israel.” “We look forward to continuing to promote and assist in the development of this important bilateral relationship as part of our intensified collaborations with African nations,” said Singer. —JNS

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The timeline of Yehuda and Tamar Parsha of the Week

Rabbi avi biLLEt Jewish Star columnist

hen we look at Chapter 38 of Bereishit, there are many questions. Timeline questions: Did Yehuda marry before or after the sale of Yosef? How old was Tamar? How old were Yehuda’s sons? How much younger than Er and Onan was Shelah, the surviving son who was not given Tamar as his bride? Considering that Peretz’s sons are included among those who descended to Egypt, when Yehuda was no more than 44 years old, everyone in the story is really young! “What really happened” questions: Why did Er die? Why did Onan die? Why was Shelah not given Tamar? Considering their ages, were any of them ever really married? Sin questions: What made Er sinful? What made Onan sinful? Did Yehuda sin in approaching the disguised Tamar? Was Tamar the sinful one? Both Yehuda and Tamar may seem vindicated in the end, but so what? That doesn’t mean bad behavior never took place! Motivation questions: Why did Yehuda not allow Shelah to marry Tamar? What motivated Tamar to disguise herself and stand at a crossroad when Yehuda was coming? Considering that she does not approach him, what was her

plan had he not been entranced by her? erhaps if we can understand Tamar’s motivation, we’ll be better equipped to answer these questions. Rashi notes that Tamar wanted to be part of Yehuda’s line. The Netziv says she saw something in Yehuda. She did not realize at first that Er and Onan, and perhaps also Shelah, were sons of a Canaanite woman and could not be the continuation of the Israelite line. Haktav V’hakabbalah and others note that neither Er nor Onan ever consummated marriage with Tamar (whatever they did was a capital offense in God’s eyes — see Sanhedrin 57), which meant she wasn’t really Yehuda’s daughter-in-law, and was fully permissible to him. Having been married to two husbands, having seen them both die, one wonders why Tamar would want to remain part of this family. Did she owe them anything? Yehuda was surely behind her remaining in the family, first through his insistence that Onan marry his dead brother’s wife, then in telling Tamar to wait as a widow until Shelah was old enough to marry her. How long would that be? The Talmud in Sotah notes the problem in the passage of time. If Yehuda’s marriage took place after the sale of Yosef, only 22 years passed before the family descended to Egypt. In that time, three sons were

Tamar took matters into her own hands.

The flaw in the mirror From Heart of Jerusalem

Rabbi biNNY FREEDMaN

Jewish Star columnist

ometimes it takes someone else to show you what you should have seen all along. I was driving home the other day when suddenly a car sped by on my left, trying to overtake me and the cars ahead. The only problem was that he had not anticipated a truck coming around the curve, heading straight for him in his lane. There was nowhere for him to go and no space for him to get back into our lane; it was a two-lane highway with only one lane in each direction. Realizing that I was about to witness a really nasty accident, despite the cars behind me, I braked and threw my car onto the shoulder, allowing him to get back into our lane just in time. The car behind me braked to avoid hitting me, and I managed to stop before hitting the guardrail; by some miracle no one was hurt. And this small white car who had almost gotten himself and probably some of us killed just drove off. Normally, that would be the end of the story, but we hit traffic, and I could see him a few cars ahead. Keeping my eyes on him, I managed to pull up alongside him by driving into a turning lane at a traffic light and motioned to him to pull down his window. At that moment, at a red light, before I had a chance to yell anything, I suddenly realized that the driver was a good friend of mine from the shul I attend every Shabbat! He was obviously embarrassed, realizing full well what a dangerous thing he had just done, so all I did was plead with him: “Please drive slowly; it’s not worth it!” I blew him a kiss and drove off as the light turned green.

born, grew to be of marriageable age, and died, and Yehuda had new twin sons, one of whom was already a father when he went down to Egypt. The Talmud’s conclusion is that all of them except Yehuda were married when they were under ten years old. Riva asks how Er and Onan could be punished with death at that age, and concludes that “G-d sees the heart.” While it is true that a person is not punished for deeds done under the age of 20, it is also true that some can be taken al shem sofam — based on how they will turn out. This may be why Yehuda pushed off Shelah’s marriage — he needed to reach an older age, older than Er and Onan had been, in order to be mature enough to wed properly. After Yehuda became widowed, however, Tamar took matters into her own hands. abbi Chaim Paltiel agrees that Er and Onan never consummated their respective marriages, and that the “marriages” were a sham anyway because they were so young. However, the verse tells us that after Yehuda married and had three children, he “took a woman for Er, his first born, and her name was Tamar.” A woman? Was Tamar considerably older than Er, Onan, and Shelah? If it’s true that Er and Onan were so young, what was Yehuda thinking? Could it be that he wanted her near him?

ruth be told, it could just have easily have been him driving alongside to tell me to drive more carefully. Do we recognize how ridiculous we can be? There is a fascinating moment captured, but easily overlooked, by the Midrash in this week’s portion of Vayeshev. Immediately after Yosef is sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver (Bereishit 37:28), the Torah tells us that Reuven returned to the pit and discovered that Yosef was gone (ibid. 37:29). The obvious question is: where did Reuven go? Rashi quotes the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 84:19) suggesting that Reuven was busy doing penance in sackcloth for having rearranged his father’s bed. The event Rashi is referring to was his attempt in last week’s portion of Vayishlach to substitute his mother Leah’s bed for Rachel’s concubine Bilha’s, after Rachel had died. He felt he was protecting his mother’s honor. In fact, it is this very event for which Reuven is taken to task by Yaakov on his deathbed (ibid. 49:4). But one has to wonder: this event took place when Rachel died, just after Binyamin was born; so Yosef was eight years old. Yosef was sold when he was seventeen. Why was Reuven still repenting for this mistake nine years later? What was it about the selling of Yosef that caused Reuven to reconsider his past actions? t is clear from the context of the verses that Reuven was against the decision to kill, and even to sell Yosef. Rashi suggests it was his intention to save him, which may be why he was so anguished, even tearing his clothes, upon discovering that Yosef was gone. There is much discussion among the commentaries as to how the brothers could justify

selling their own brother into a lifetime of slavery, even wanting to kill him. But to Reuven, perhaps it was a shock to realize how easily one can rationalize fratricide. Seeing the brothers assume they had a right to kill Yosef or at least get rid of him due the fact that they felt threatened by his relationship with their father, perhaps Reuven looked back and suddenly understood how narrow his viewpoint must have been. On the one hand, with Rachel dead, was it not time for Leah to assume the natural role as Yaakov’s primary wife and share his tent? And Reuven, seeing only his mother’s honor and pain, acted on impulse, viewing the world through his own lens. But what of Yaakov? Had Reuven considered how painful it must have been for Yaakov to lose his beloved Rachel? And how eerily shocked he must have been to discover his bed moved to the tent of a woman he had not intended to be with? Would this not have reminded Yaakov of the anguish he had felt when tricked by Lavan into marrying Leah against his will in the first place, all those years ago? Perhaps Reuven, in shock at the turn of events regarding the sudden, violent kidnapping of Yosef, took some time for a long-overdue introspection of his own shortcomings? ll of which suggests a powerful idea. The Baal Shem Tov suggests that when we see someone, for example, violating Shabbat, our first response should not be to scream at them regarding the sanctity of Shabbat. Rather, perhaps G-d wants us first to take a look and see what might be wrong in our own Shabbat. Imagine a world where we first look to examine our own shortcomings, before rebuking our neighbors. Maybe seeing my neighbor driving unsafely was just as much for me to wonder if I can improve my own driving habits? We are so quick to see everyone else’s flaws; it’s harder to hold the light up to our own.

Why was Reuven still repenting for this mistake 9 years later?

Since he was already married, could it be that he thought, “Let her be a part of my family through my son”? Perhaps Tamar had similar hopes, which is why she agreed. Neither of them knew how things would turn out in the end. Haktav V’hakabbalah further notes that when Yehuda declared tzadkah — she is righteous — he was noting that her intent was “for the sake of heaven” in seeking him out rather than any other younger man. This does not account for what Tamar might have done had Yehuda not approached her, but perhaps, knowing of his widowhood and loneliness, she felt it was a sure thing. t is clear that the Davidic line comes from a significant number of eyebrow-raising relationships, including Lot and his daughters, Yehuda and Tamar, Ruth and Boaz, David and Batsheva. Ramban notes that this was by design. The Davidic line of kings would never become haughty and think of themselves as better than their subjects, given their background. That is probably the most important message of all. Even great kings have skeletons in the closet, and a flawed pedigree to remind them to be humble and not to think of themselves as better than anyone. At the same time, Tamar’s story is proof of the power of truth, dedication, and pursuit of justice. If, for example, Tamar was meant to be join Yehuda’s family through the equivalent of a levirate marriage, her effort bore fruit when she took matters into her own hands. History and legend have the benefit of hindsight, and we know where this story stands in the history of the Jewish people.

Everyone seems to be calling everyone else intolerant these days. Perhaps we all would do well to look at ourselves before throwing stones. Regular healthy introspection can do wonders to improve relationships. If you see a flaw that really bothers you in someone you love, maybe it is a mirror; maybe that flaw is actually a message to you. Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

Luach Fri Nov 30 / 22 Kislev Vayeishev Candlelighting: 4:10 pm Havdalah: 5:19 pm

Sun Dec 2 / 24 Kislev Chanukah begins tonight First candle

Mon Dec 3 / 25 Kislev Second candle

Tues Dec 4 / 26 Kislev Third candle

Wed Dec 5 / 27 Kislev Fourth candle

Thurs Dec 6 / 28 Kislev Fifth candle

Fri Dec 7 / 29 Kislev Sixth candle Shabbos Chanukah / Miketz Candlelighting: 4:09 pm Havdalah: 5:18 pm

Five Towns times from White Shul

Angel for Shabbat

RAbbi mARc d. Angel

n his play All Our Sons, Arthur Miller portrays a family coping with a deep secret. The head of the family, Joe Keller, was a manufacturer of engines for airplanes. During World War II, the government needed war material, and business boomed. Amid heavy production, a batch of engines came out with cracks. The cracks were covered up superficially and the engines sold, leading to the deaths of 21 pilots. When the government investigated, Keller managed to get exonerated, shifting the blame to his partner, who was imprisoned. Keller and his family continued to live well; his son Chris totally believed in his father’s innocence. But the ugly truth could not stay buried forever. Chris became suspicious of his father’s claims and finally confronted him. Keller could no longer hide. Joe Keller (to his son Chris): “You’re a boy, what could I do! I’m in business, a man is in business; 120 cracked, you’re out of business … You lay 40 years into a business and they knock you out in five minutes, what could I do, let them take 40 years, let them take my life away? … I never thought they’d install them. I

swear to G-d. I thought they’d stop ’em before anybody took off … Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I’m 61 years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you? 61 years old you don’t get another chance, do ya?” fter this admission, things spiral downward. Joe Keller commits suicide. He had lived a seemingly happy and successful life, all the while knowing that he was responsible for selling defective engines, for causing the deaths of 21 pilots, for foisting the blame onto his partner. He maintained an illusion of innocence. When that illusion was destroyed, so was his life. How did he manage to maintain that illusion of innocence for so long? How did he sleep at night knowing the terrible things he had done? Like many people, Joe Keller was able to lie to himself, to block out feelings of guilt or personal responsibility. But the truth will out … and the consequences can be devastating. In this week’s Torah portion, we read several very troubling verses: “And they [Yosef’s brothers] took him [Yosef] and cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread…” (Bereishit 37:24-25). It is difficult to imagine such hard-hearted

callousness. The brothers were set to murder or sell Yosef; they threw him into a deep pit and then sat down to eat their lunch as though nothing untoward had happened. Where was their moral sense? Where were their feelings of guilt, of responsibility? his moral blindness continued for years to come. The brothers did not seem to lose sleep. They seem not to have been troubled by the grieving of their father. Like Joe Keller, they maintained an illusion of innocence. They somehow found ways of justifying their actions, or blocking them out of their consciousness. Years later, the brothers appeared before Yosef in Egypt, not realizing that the harsh Egyptian ruler was in fact their own brother. Facing charges of espionage, the brothers panicked. “And they said to one another: we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw his distress when he beseeched us and we did not listen; therefore is this distress come upon us” (Bereishit 42:21). The long-suppressed secret was out. Their guilt feelings finally emerged. The story of Yosef’s brothers and Joe Keller are like so many human stories. Sin, denial, guilt, remorse … How do criminals live with themselves? How do people sleep peacefully at night after they have betrayed others? How do

How did he sleep at night?

Perspectives on Tehillim 47 Kosher bookworm

AlAn JAy geRbeR

Jewish Star columnist

his week, Priority-1 will host its 23rd annual Motzei Shabbos Tanach shiur on Psalms 46 and 47, with its veteran maggid shiur, Dr. Alex Bruckstein. Psalm 47 should be familiar to most of us as the opening liturgy to the annual Rosh Hashanah shofar-blowing service. Dr. Bruckstein will devote his one-hour lecture to an analysis of its text and theme. This week’s column will preview the psalm as a lead-up to Dr. Bruckstein’s shiur, which will take place at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, 8 Spruce St., corner Broadway, at 7 pm.

ArtScroll, in its commentary on this chapter, verse 6, teaches us the following: “G-d ascended with the blast — many Midrashim suggest that the Psalmist is alluding to the blast of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Specifically, the Teruah is the broken blast, which symbolizes the harsh shattering punishments of Elokim, the dispenser of strict Justice. When the Jew hears the sound of the Teruah, he realizes that he deserves shattering punishment for his sins and is inspired to repent. Having felt remorse for his sins, he is forgiven and the verdict of Elokim is nullified. Thus, G-d ascends and departs because of the Teruah blast.” “Further on into this verse we read: “G-d, with the sound of the shofar — Sforno observes that this is the long awaited blast signaling the

ingathering of exiles, ‘And it shall come to pass on that day that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come — those who were lost in the land of Assyria, and those who were dispersed in the land of Egypt — and they shall prostrate themselves before G-d on the holy mountain, Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 27:13).” abbi Yosef B. Marcus, in his commentary to this Psalm published by Kehot, writes, “G-d’s motivation in creating the world is the pleasure he receives from our fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvoth. G-d’s desire for our service, then, is the foundation on which the world is built. Remove the desire for our service, and there is nothing to sustain creation. “On Rosh Hashanah, G-d ascends the seat of

“G-d has gone up like a mortal king.”

Yosef and the name of G-d Torah

RAbbi dAvid eTengoff

Jewish Star columnist

osef is the sole figure in Tanach to whom our Sages attach the title hatzaddik, the righteous one. The second-century work Seder Haolam Rabbah is one of the earliest Rabbinic sources where this appellation is found “…He grants wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who know understanding.” [This verse from Daniel 2:21] refers to Yosef hatzaddik, for as the text states, ‘Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Since G-d has let you know all this, there is no one as understanding and wise as you”’” (Bereishit 41:39; Seder Haolam Rabbah chapter 30). Our passage’s view of Yosef as Yosef hatzaddik, based upon his wisdom and understanding, seems unusual, since it does not correspond to the standard concept of tzidkut, righteousness. Normally, it is customary for individuals to receive the title of tzaddik because of what they have done, not because of their

great intellect. Perhaps this is the reason why Talmud, teaches us that Yosef earned the title as a result of his rejection of the amorous advances of Potiphar’s wife. Every day, she endeavored to entice him with words, changed clothing for him from morning to evening, and even threatened him: “She said to him: ‘Yield to me!’ He said: ‘No.’ She said: ‘I shall have you imprisoned.’ He said: ‘The L-rd releases the bound’ (Tehillim 146:7). She said: ‘I shall bend your proud stature.’ He replied: ‘The L-rd raises those who are bowed down’ (146:8). She said: ‘I shall blind you.’ He replied: ‘The L-rd opens the eyes of the blind.’ She offered him a thousand talents of silver to make him yield to her, to lie with her, to be near her, but he would not listen to her; not ‘to lie with her’ in this world, not ‘to be with her’ in the next” (Talmud Bavli, Yoma 35a).

learly, Yosef fulfilled the words of the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot IV:1: “Who is strong? One who overpowers his inclination. As is said [Mishlei 16:32], ‘Better one who is slow to anger than one with might, one who rules his spirit than the captor of a city.’” I believe there is another reason why our Sages call Yosef a tzaddik, derived from Rashi’s interpretation of a verse in our parasha: “And his master saw that the L-rd was with him, and whatever he [Yosef] did the L-rd made prosper in his hand” (39:3). Rashi, based upon Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev VIII, adds the following interpretation on the words “that the L-rd was with him”: the name of Heaven was frequently on his lips, shem shamayim shagur b’piv. Yosef explicitly mentioned Hashem’s name in all situations in which he found himself, both positive and negative. In his rejection of Potiphar’s wife, he says,

Normally, individuals receive the title because of what they have done.

justice. However, when the Jewish people then sound the shofar, G-d moves from the seat of justice to the seat of mercy. Filled with compassion for them, He shifts from a judgment approach to a merciful one [Vayikra Rabbah 29:3].” One last take is from the Da’at Mikra Bible, published by Mosad HaRav Kook: “This verse [Psalm 47] was recited while the congregation [or the shofar-blowers among them] shouted and sounded the shofar. The leader of the congregation proclaimed: The shouts and shofar blasts signify that G-d has gone up as king. The psalmist uses the term alah, ‘has gone up,’ as if to say that G-d has gone up like a mortal king who ascends steps to reach his royal throne. “The words ‘sound the shofar’ parallel the word ‘shout.’ We noted above [verse 2] that the word ‘teruah’ refers to a loud sound, whether vocal or instrumental. The psalmist uses the Tetragrammaton as if to say that the Lord, and no other, is G-d.” Further perspectives on this valued chapter of Tehillim will be the centerpiece of Dr. Bruckstein’s upcoming shiur. “How can I commit this great evil and sin against G-d?” (39:9) In prison with the baker and cup-bearer, he says, “Do interpretations [of dreams] not belong to G-d? Tell [the dreams] to me now” (40:8). Upon being removed from prison and standing before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams, he says, “It is not I, but G-d who will give an answer [that will bring] peace to Pharaoh” (41:16). s we have seen, even Pharaoh, one of the world’s greatest practitioners of idol worship and the black arts, recognized Hashem after Yosef’s interpretation: “Will we find [anyone] like this, a man in whom there is the spirit of G-d? Since G-d has let you know all this, there is no one as understanding and wise as you” (41:38-39). Given these textual proofs, I believe that one of the most cogent reasons our Sages call Yosef hatzaddik is precisely because he sanctified G-d’s Name and led others to do so. This was the case even when he could have benefited by stressing his own unique talents and abilities instead of Hashem’s glory and omnipotence. In this sense, Yosef is the rebbe of klal Yisrael, for he taught us to declare the greatness of the Almighty’s Name at all times, so that we may be imbued and instill others with a sense of the greatness of the Creator.

27 THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Guilt and the illusion of innocence

people maintain content after sinning against G-d and humanity? One of the hazards of human life is our ability to create illusions of innocence. People deny personal responsibility; or they justify their deeds; or they find scapegoats to blame; or they simply convince themselves of their own innocence. Moral blindness prevails. o one is perfect; everyone has said or done something wrong at some point in life. The question is: how should one deal with moral failings? The first step is to be honest and self-critical. When one has sinned, one should face it directly. A strong moral conscience is the best preventative to moral blindness. The second step is not to let guilt feelings undermine life, but to channel those feelings in a constructive direction. While past sins cannot be undone, one can work diligently to atone for them and to create a better future. One can accept responsibility for past words and deeds, and make peace — to the extent possible — with the victims. The next step is to be vigilant against moral blindness in our lives and in the lives of others. Denying personal responsibility or deflecting blame to others are negative and self-destructive strategies. When criminals and betrayers of trust can sleep peacefully at night, this is a sign of their moral decadence. Only when they sense the gravity of their sins will they be able to free themselves from their moral turpitude. Only then can they take positive steps of atonement. Only then can they begin to redeem their lives.

November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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Did Senator Schumer intervene for Facebook? Politics to Go

JEff DuNEtz

Jewish Star columnist

ew York Senator Chuck Schumer may have been caught in a scandal — not that you’d know from mainstream media coverage. Before Thanksgiving, the New York Times ran an investigative piece on Facebook’s handling of two major crises — Russian use of the platform in the 2016 election, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg launched an aggressive lobbying campaign in an attempt to pacify critics, direct anger toward to other social media companies, and to prevent Congress from passing laws enacting government regulation. Less widely covered was the role of Senator Schumer in deflecting government regulation. The Times explained, “In Washington, allies of Facebook, including Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, intervened on its behalf. And Ms. Sandberg wooed or cajoled hostile lawmakers, while trying to dispel Facebook’s reputation as a bastion of Bay Area liberalism.”

pparently, in July 2017, in his role as Senate Democrat leader, Schumer told Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), to “back off” criticism of Facebook. At the time, per the Times, Warner was its “most insistent inquisitor in Congress.” “Mr. Warner should be looking for ways to work with Facebook, Mr. Schumer advised, not harm it. Facebook lobbyists were kept abreast of Mr. Schumer’s efforts to protect the company.” A Senate aide said that Schumer had not wanted Warner to lose sight of the need for Facebook to tackle right-wing disinformation, as well as consumer privacy and other issues, the Times reported. Instead, he advised Warner to try to find ways collaborate. The report also claimed that Schumer kept Facebook’s lobbyists informed of his efforts. None of the above is illegal, but additional information called the senator’s motivation into question. Schumer raised more money from Facebook than any other member of Congress in 2016. His daughter Alison is now a marketing manager in Facebook’s New York office.

“It sure looks hinky,” strategist Susan Del Percio told the New York Post. “This is an industry that’s been trying for years to fend off heavy government regulation by actively cultivating relationships with senators and House members.” ven before the report, Schumer’s relationship with Facebook had been questioned. The Daily Caller reported in April that street artist Sabo had plastered New York City with “creepy depictions of the tech executive and the elected official, while advertising a new website ZuckSchumer.com.” Another sign read “Conflict of Interest? The daughter of CHUCK is working for ZUCK.” Schumer’s spokesman indicated that he may be behind censorship of conservative opinion, saying, “Sen. Schumer has worked aggressively to push Facebook to do more to purge fake accounts and bots used by the right wing and Russians to perpetuate a disinformation campaign.” Except Facebook did more that. It made itself the arbiter of truth. Seemingly because of Schumer’s efforts, Facebook attacked all con-

“The daughter of Chuck is working for Zuck.”

servative accounts. While denying censorship, it revised the algorithms that compile news stories. A Western Journal Study reported that “liberal publishers have gained about 2 percent more web traffic from Facebook than they were getting before the algorithm changes implemented in early February. On the other hand, conservative publishers have lost an average of nearly 14 percent of their traffic from Facebook.” One month before the midterm election, Facebook purged over 800 conservative pages. Many of them were colleagues of mine, whose only sin was providing conservative opinions. one of this is proof that Schumer protected Facebook for corrupt reasons, or pushed it to censor conservatives. But, as Susan Del Percio said, “it sure looks hinky.” I’m not saying there was a pay-for-play relationship, but there’s certainly enough evidence to investigate. The information above came from liberal sources: The New York Times and Schumer’s own spokesman. Considering the information came from Schumer’s own supporters, the question is, why isn’t anyone investigating Chuck Schumer’s “special relationship” with Facebook? If Schumer was a Republican, the mainstream media would be all over this story. Instead it is quiet as is the Department of Justice.

On Yazidi genocide, a bad day for the Knesset Viewpoint

BEN COHEN By Ben Cohen, JNS Something unexpected and disturbing occurred in the Knesset on Nov. 21. A bill recognizing the 2014 slaughter of Yazidis in Iraq by ISIS as “genocide” was voted down, 58 to 38. It was unexpected for several reasons. Both the government of Israel and Jewish organizations around the world recognized the slaughter for what it was during a terrible summer that saw thousands of Yazidis brutally murdered and over 7,000 young women and girls enslaved by the killers of their families. Speaking to the UN General Assembly in September 2014, Benjamin Netanyahu introduced his remarks with a condemnation of “militant Islam,” declaring: “Typically, its first victims are other Muslims, but it spares no one. Christians, Jews, Yazidis, Kurds — no creed, no faith, no ethnic group is beyond its sights.” On a local level, there were several initiatives by Jewish groups to assist Yazidi survivors.

The Winnipeg Jewish Federation’s Operation Ezra sponsored refugee families, and efforts by Montreal-based Jewish businessman Steve Maman (dubbed the “Jewish Schindler”) led to the release of more than 100 Yazidi girls. he Knesset vote was disturbing on moral grounds. As the bill’s sponsor, MK Ksenia Svetlova of the opposition Zionist Union, pointed out, “Israel was created from the ashes of the Holocaust; we are obligated to recognize the suffering of others.” One might add that there is a precedent even closer to home: During the first half of the 20th century, Jewish communities from British Mandate Palestine to Iraq were subject to persecution and violence at the hands of Islamists and Arab nationalists, and were uprooted after World War II. The parallels are, sadly, all too clear. True, no state always chooses the morally upright path — something many people generally expect of Israel, often unreasonably. For example, Israel’s reluctance to recognize the Ottoman Turkish genocide of the Armenians is based not on the facts of the case, but on a strategic deci-

sion not to further strain relations with Turkey. What’s galling in the Yazidi case, however, is that there is no state like Turkey in the equation to justify the Knesset vote. n an interview with Seth Frantzmann, an Israel-based journalist who has reported from Syria and Iraq, MK Svetlova said that the “government parties opposed it because the ministerial commission for legislation decided that on Sunday.” She told Frantzmann her impression was that “the foreign ministry is worried about moving too fast on this issue.” Her account seems consistent with the government’s explanation. During the Knesset debate, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely justified opposition to the bill on the grounds that the United Nations had not recognized the ethnic cleansing and murder of Yazidis as a “genocide.” Svetlova was far from alone in pointing out the irony of Netanyahu’s government, which excoriates the United Nations for its discriminatory treatment of Israel — citing the UN as justification. But it is not the whole truth.

The vote was disturbing on moral grounds.

While the U.N. Security Council has not explicitly recognized the Yazidis’ suffering as a genocide, it manifestly has not ruled it out. irstly, UNSC Resolution 2379 of September 2017 notes that ISIS committed crimes “involving murder, kidnapping, hostagetaking, suicide bombings, enslavement, sale into or otherwise forced marriage, trafficking in persons, rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence, recruitment and use of children, attacks on critical infrastructure, as well as its destruction of cultural heritage, including archaeological sites and trafficking of cultural property” — all crimes that can be prosecuted under the 1951 Genocide Convention. Given the documented evidence of ISIS crimes against the Yazidis and the wording used by the United Nations, to argue that the international body does not consider this genocide is to raise pedantry above principle. This was a bad, bad day for Israel’s parliament. The decision will have disappointed many Israeli voters, along with Jews abroad who would like Israel to show leadership on the issue of genocide prevention. Svetlova says she will reintroduce the Yazidi genocide bill in six months. Let’s hope the Knesset gets it right next time.

Fiamma nirenStein

t’s unprecedented. Airbnb, the website that rents rooms and houses to tourists throughout the world, has decided to act as the world’s moral compass by removing all listings of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. Set for removal are approximately 200 apartments belonging to Israeli citizens in the disputed territories. Their decision is particularly disheartening in light of the fact that Airbnb has not removed a single property owned by Turks in Cyprus, Moroccans in Sahara, Chinese in Tibet or Russians in the Crimea — in other words, the occupiers in other disputed territories around the world. When it comes to double standards, Israel is the ideal target. The European Union and the United Nations ride on their moral high horses by passing reso-

lutions that exclusively target the Jewish state while ignoring the world’s foremost human rights abusers, murderers and dictators. Following the great anti-Semitic masters, Airbnb posted an elaborate statement explaining its decision to single out Jews. It alludes to security, justice, peace, and suffering, wholeheartedly adhering to the Palestinian narrative, although the international legal definition refers to Judea and Samaria, not “disputed territories.” Airbnb has chosen to join the self-described defenders of globalization and human rights, and become the latest company to join the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This anti-Semitic movement calls for the total boycott of Israel, a discriminatory act that has already been prohibited by 26 of America’s 50 states. It is part of a gross pattern in which Israel, which represents the collective Jew, is repeatedly

condemned by all the anti-Semites of the world. Airbnb doesn’t like the rooms, apartments and homes of Jews. It is not a matter of chance that it announced its new policy the day before the NGO Human Rights Watch — famous for its anti-Israel animus — was set to publish a report examining its activities in the West Bank. Arvind Ganesan, director of Human Rights Watch’s Business and Human Rights Division, praised the Airbnb move, which penalizes more than 200 local families, and urged “other companies to follow suit.” aeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator who denies Israel’s right to exist and has repeatedly refused every peace proposal in the past 25 years, thanked Airbnb for condemning what he defines as “a colonial occupation.” Erekat has never uttered a word about the human rights abuses of Iran or Hezbollah in

It doesn’t like the rooms, apartments and homes of Jews.

Syria. He knows perfectly well that efforts to boycott Judea and Samaria are really efforts to boycott all of Israel. The disputed territories are an excuse. He is not the least bit concerned that BDS has been linked to the most rabid anti-Semitic groups and terror-financing sponsors. Certainly Airbnb is aware of this, too. It is simply part of BDS’s game. Airbnb couches its decision in claims of encouraging a “lasting peace,” and a desire that “a framework is put in place … so there will be a resolution to this historic conflict and a clear path forward.” If we carefully peer through this framework, we can see the smiling images of Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian president and PLO leader; his successor Mahmoud Abbas; and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar. We can hear Abbas’s declarations that he unequivocally refuses efforts to negotiate peace. We can see the textbooks used in Palestinian schools that teach children how to hate Jews and injure them with guns, knives, cars and missiles. Journalist Fiamma Nirenstein is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

BDS a bust in Middle East, alive in America Jonathan S. tobin

DS activists who think they are succeeding in isolating the State of Israel aren’t paying attention. On Sunday, reports surfaced that negotiations surrounding a gas pipeline to connect Israel’s natural gas resources to Cyprus, Greece and Italy have finally succeeded. The pipeline network will reportedly be the longest and deepest ever built. Initial estimates of the cost to build it start at $7 billion. The good news doesn’t stop there. And that should influence the way we think about BDS. The European Union invested $100 million into a feasibility study of importing Israeli natural gas. The plan, dubbed the EastMed Pipeline Project, will give Cyprus and Israel preference over other potential importers of gas to Europe. The project, which will hopefully be completed in five years, will provide Israel’s already strong economy with a boost. But the preference for Israeli imports also signals that Arab influence over Europe, rooted in its ability to export oil and gas, is waning. With Europeans wanting alternatives to Arab and Iranian oil as well

as Russian natural gas, Israel will not only profit from the transaction; its standing as an economy and a military power with will also grow. The fact that Italy, Greece and Cyprus are prepared to join Israel and Egypt in joint military and civil exercises to protect the pipeline and regional security is equally important. Despite continued threats from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the Jewish state no longer stands alone. or was that the only good news for Israel. As part of Israel’s continuing effort to foster better relations with Africa, Idriss Déby, the president of Chad, arrived in the country for a state visit. Though in some ways a typical Third World authoritarian — Déby is a graduate of the late Libyan dictator and terror funder Moammar Gadaffi’s World Revolutionary Center — he now looks to the West and Israel for aid in the fight against the Boko Haram Islamist terrorists who threaten his country. The visit is part of what appears to be a successful effort to normalize relations with the nations of Sudan, Niger, Mali and Chad — all of whom have predominantly Muslim populations. During the press conference with the Chadian leader, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that he would again travel to unspecified Arab countries — he was recently in Oman for an official visit — a step that would indicate that talk of Israel’s isolation is a fantasy. Just as important were reports from the MED

The world’s woes... Continued from page 1 guage can come today from the far left, it can come from white supremacists, it can come from Islamic extremists. It can come from many sources. But all of those groups converge on one idea: the Jew remains humanity’s great problem.” ithin 48 hours of this pitch-perfect definition of anti-Semitism, Linda Sarsour’s message about American Jews’ loyalty hit the news. It’s a familiar anti-Semitic trope. Sarsour accused Jewish liberal progressives, with whom she shares much, of having loyalty to Israel that trumps their loyalty to America. Now, as Dr. Afshine Emrani of California put it, “I’m loyal to both my mom and dad.” Jews have always been proud Americans; we should not have to prove our bona fides. Wherever we turned, the news featured another anti-Semitic tale. The shouts of “Intifada! Intifada!” were on a mainstream American university campus — not in Gaza, Iran or Syria, but

right here, reflecting the mainstreaming of antiSemitic rhetoric on American campuses. The UCLA event was led by people who go on record as saying or writing, “We should just stone all the Zionists to death,” “#liestoldinschool the holocaust,” and “lol let’s stuff some Jews in the oven.” Clearly, the Airbnb boycott that singles out Jewish apartments — not Palestinian Arab apartments, only Jewish ones — in the West Bank is horrendous for its blatant anti-Semitism. Human Rights Watch appears to be behind it, and now they’re working on bringing the Bookings web service on board with this misguided, racist policy. As former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren put it: “Airbnb blacklists Jewish apartments in Judea and Samaria, not Palestinian apartments, not apartments in Turkish-occu-

2018 Conference in Rome that Arab countries who usually used such international forums for Israel-bashing were no longer doing so. Arab indifference to the Palestinian cause is painfully obvious. This trend stems more from antipathy to Palestinian rejectionism, and the recognition that Israel is the best ally the Arab world has against Iran, than any affection for Zionism. But it’s also proof that Arab nations are wary of schemes to create a Palestinian state that is likely to be dominated by radicals. ll that is bitter news for supporters of BDS. They blithely talk about widespread disdain for Israel. Even friends of Israel sometimes succumb to despair. Some on the right exaggerate the strength of its enemies, and many on the left assume that their criticisms of the Netanyahu government’s policies are so widely shared that it is only a matter of time before Israel faces total isolation as an “apartheid” state. Both are wrong. Israel’s enemies haven’t given up, and their hatred — rooted as it is the powerful virus of anti-Semitism that continues to fester around the world — isn’t going away. It’s also true that the hostility of academic elites and many in the media remains a powerful force seeking to delegitimize Zionism. Yet neither trend can erase the fact that Israel is more powerful and accepted today than it has ever been.

But all the good news about Israel’s acceptance should remind us of what is at stake. BDS advocates have had a few successes, such as the decision of Airbnb to single out Jews in the West Bank for discrimination. They’ve also managed to gain a foothold in the American Jewish community, with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace mainstreaming their anti-Zionist and even antiSemitic views about Israel and its supporters. ut while such victories have been far fewer than their defeats, they have still managed to create an atmosphere on many campuses that makes it difficult for Jewish students to speak openly of their support for Israel. Support for intersectional ideology, which claims the war against the one Jewish state on the planet is analogous to the struggle for civil rights in the United States, has grown on the left, on college campuses and with popular protest groups like the anti-Trump Women’s March. The willingness of those who embrace anti-Semites gives the lie to the assumption that left-wing Jew-hatred is confined to the fever swamps of American society, as it is on the far right. We should celebrate Israel’s successes, which point to the utter failure of BDS on the international stage. But those stories only make it clearer that real battlefront against BDS is here in the United States, not in the Middle East. Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS.

pied Cyprus, in Moroccan-occupied Sahara, not in Tibet or the Crimea. Airbnb policy is the very definition of anti-Semitism.” here are many conflicts areas in the world, yet Airbnb and Human Rights Watch does not take a stand on any of them. Only the Jewish territorial conflict is singled out. As Halevy said, the Jew is singled out as symbolizing the most loathsome qualities in society. If a company is going to stand on a human rights platform, be consistent. Otherwise, this decision to boycott only Jewish-owned businesses is, in fact, anti-Semitism, pure and simple. Airbnb functioning in the Judenrein Palestinian Authority cannot be deemed OK while its functioning in the West Bank is problematic. This is the ultimate double standard. I am not advocating that Airbnb shut down Arab Palestinian businesses. Let them make a dignified living. I am calling out Airbnb’s hypocrisy. The 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht was

just weeks ago. On that night, Jewish shop windows were literally shattered. Today, instead of windowpanes, anti-Semites leverage BDS to shatter Jewish businesses. The West Bank will be subject to future negotiations between Israel and Palestinians. But for now, it is an unresolved political issue — like Cyprus, Ukraine, Tibet, the Sahara and other places. So unless Aribnb plans on navigating international conflicts around the globe, stay out of it. eanwhile, despite all of this, news out of Israel last week included reports of continuing humanitarian aid to Gaza; a promising treatment for an aggressive brain cancer; and IsraAid, whose emergency response team is traveling to California to help in the aftermath of wildfires. While some will continue to pin on Jews and on Israel the most loathsome qualities, that doesn’t change the truth of who we are, in America, Israel or anywhere else. As painful as last week was, especially because of the future isolation it portends, I am so proud to be part of this people, the Nation of Israel. G-d bless America. Am Yisrael chai. Copyright Intermountain Jewish News

“I’m loyal to both my mom and dad.”

THE JEWISH STAR November 30, 2018 • 22 Kislev, 5779

Airbnb joins the lineup of classic anti-Semites

Editor

Airbnb...

Continued from page 19 er disputed areas,” Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote in an open letter to Airbnb CEO Brian Qualified candidates will have demonstrated Chesky. “Yet only Israeli settlements are being journalistic proficiency and have an understanding of singled out for de-listing by Airbnb, a decision which many see as a double standard set by your company.” Before this week, Airbnb appeared to have a positive relationship with Israel and its supporters. In 2015, Tel Aviv partnered with AirbThe Jewish Star’s news reporters will cover community Photographers will cover events in the Five Towns and elsewhere on Long Island or on the Upper West Side and events, civic meetings, school news, local personalities nb to create an interactive guide to the city, the Riverdale on a freelance basis. and a range of Jewish issues. Reporting and writing first such partnership that Airbnb had formed. experience (preferably news coverage) is required. An Our newsroom alumni have become news media In 2016, partly due to multiple allegations that understanding of Jewish issues is a plus. superstars in New York and throughout America. Airbnb hosts in Europe refused to rent to IsraeYou will not find a better, more professional growth This position is full-time (although a flexible schedule may lis, the company added a non-discrimination opportunity in Jewish media on Long Island. be arranged), with salary, paid holidays, time off, clause for hosts. medical and 401(k). Candidates will also be Send resume, cover letter and clips (or links). In subject A report released last week by Human line, put REPORTER, EDITOR or FREELANCE. considered for freelance work. Rights Watch says settlements are uniquely bad because they are illegal under international law (Israel disputes this), some are built on seized Palestinian land, and Palestinians who live in the West Bank are not allowed access to them. P/T and freelance (set your own schedule!) with the Write about what you know and care about the most Israelis are regularly prohibited from enprospect of fame (a Jewish Star byline!) and if not quite — your community, your shul, your schools, your tering several Middle Eastern countries where a fortune, a modest stipend. organizations. Airbnb listings are still accepted. But Saeb ErSound intereting? E-mail an inquiry to the editor for The Jewish Star is recruiting neighborhood people with ekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, said the a prompt callback. Please put NEIGHBORHOOD a nose for news. Do you like to write and enjoy sharing CORRESPONDENT in the subject line. what’s happening in your local Jewish communitiy? comparison is faulty: Palestinians being prohibited from West Bank settlements are not foreigners but live in the same territory. only in the where a perRE YOU A COLLEGE STUDENT “It’s REthe YOU THEplace PARENT OFworld A STUDENT son who lives somewhere cannot enter based O YOU KNOW A COLLEGE STUDENTonWHO WANTS TO EARN SUMMER their ethnicity or national THIS origin,” he said. much more), so your earning potential is outstanding. The Jewish Star's advertising sales and marketing “If there were another country where those representatives help businesses and organizations These positions (full-time preferred, but a flex schedule things are found, we’d be all for Airbnb having reach Jewish communities on Long Island. may be arranged) offer competitive compensation a similar policy, but we haven’t found that.” The Jewish Star offers its clients an exceptionally broad including a base salary, excellent commission and bonus It’s unclear whether this decision will help opportunities, paid holidays, time off, medical and 401(k). range of useful products (including both religious and secular publications, digital and email marketing, direct or hurt Airbnb’s bottom line, said Pam ScholdSend resume and cover letter. Put AD SALES in the mail, commercial printing, advertising novelties and er Ellen, an associate professor of marketing at subject line. The New York Press Association Foundation is sponsoring a paid Georgia State University. Because people hold summer internship at this newspaper for opinions a qualifiedon journalism student. passionate both sides of the issue, she said, Airbnb would anger one side and Send all job inquiries to: JewishStarJobs@gmail.com please whether it kept or removed the Any student currently enrolled in aanother recognized journalism program listings. is eligible to compete for an internship with a addedApplicants that because the international net $2,500 stipend providedShe by NYPA. must attend community settlements illegal, it’s college during the 2018-2019considers academic year. possible that Airbnb saw them as a liability. “It is becoming Hurry! Application deadline is Marchincreasingly 1, 2018. common for companies to take stances on political issues, College students: Apply for $2,500 stipend particularly since the last election,” Ellen said. The New York Press Association Foundation is “A lot of the companies that are doing this are sponsoring a paid summer internship at this newspaper New York Press Association Application online run by much forms youngeravailable founders and at: they are for a qualified journalism student. Any student currently more likely to be politically active.” enrolled in a recognized journalism program is eligible www. nynewspapers .comfor the Binto compete for an internship with a net $2,500 stipend Tamar Asraf, a spokeswoman provided by NYPA. Applicants must attend college yamin Regional Council, which governs settleduring the 2019–20 academic year. F O U N DAT I O N ments in the central West Bank, said she didn’t click on Member click on Internships think Airbnb’sServices decision would hurt tourism there. In the days since the statement, Asraf said, she has received messages from people in Israel and abroad who want to visit in order to make a statement. “We’re already seeing this: People are picking up the phone and saying we want to come,” she said. “Not necessarily people who are naturally supportive of settlements, but they’re very much against boycotts.” Here’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead a growing team of staff reporters, correspondents and photographers at Long Island’s #1 Jewish newspaper in print and on multiple online platforms.

Torah Judaism and issues of interest to local Orthodox communities. There is also an opening for a P/T Associate Editor to edit copy and perform a variety of office functions. Send a descriptive cover letter, resume, clips (or links). In subject line, put EDITOR or ASSOCIATE EDITOR.

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The JEWISH STAR CAlendar of Events

Send your events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com Deadline noon Friday • Compiled by Rachel Langer Membership Supperette: Young Israel of Woodmere sisterhood invites you to a boutique and buffet. Chanukah gifts, raffles, dessert demonstration by Jewish Star columnist Judy Joszef. Free ticket with donation to shul’s toy drive. 6:30 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. YIwoodmere.org/sisterhood. $36; free for members. Baking for Babies: Bake sale and Chinese auction to benefit Yad Eliezer’s baby fund. 7 to 10 pm. 130 Oak St, Woodmere. Madraigos Seminar: Parents of 8th and 9th graders are invited to an informative evening on substance abuse, featuring a live role-play, Q&A with Madraigos staff, and special address by Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. 8 pm to 9:30 pm. 7 Muriel Ave, Lawrence. 516-3713250 ext. 111.

Thursday November 29

Baking for Babies: Bake sale and Chinese auction to benefit Yad Eliezer’s baby fund. Cooking demo by Esty Wolbe. 9 am to 8 pm. 130 Oak St, Woodmere. Menorahs & Martinis: Design a menorah, enjoy cocktails and dessert buffet. Learn the role of Jewish women in the Chanukah story. Hosted by Chabad of Hewlett Jewish Women’s Circle. 8 pm. 44 Everiet Ave, Hewlett. 917-575-3917. $20.

Saturday December 1

Comedy Night: Be’er Hagolah annual evening of entertainment honoring Yaakov and Aliza Bojman. Chinese auction, buffet dinner, comedy by Elon Gold. 8:45 pm. 671 Louisiana Ave, Brooklyn. 718-642-6800. $90 per person, $180 per couple.

Sunday December 2

Mega Chanukah Bash: Live concert, bounce houses, game truck, face painting, arts and crafts. Basketball game, rabbis vs. teens. Hosted by LI Nets. 2:30 pm to 5 pm. Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale. 516-484-3500. Gala Dinner: 36th annual dinner for American Friends of Bet El, honoring Thomas & Debbie Herman, Daniel & Razie Benedict, and Yair & Chana Leah Matan. Hear from Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. 6 pm. Broadway at 46 St, Manhattan. $500 per couple. RSVP beteldinner.org. Menorah Lighting: With Chabad of Hewlett, at the Hewlett Veterans Memorial Triangle. 6 pm. Ribbon cutting at Chabad Center followed by latke fry-off competition, crafts, and face paint. 3:30 pm. Merrick LIRR, thereafter 2174 Hewlett Ave, Hewlett. 516-833-3057. Free admission.

Monday December 3

Benefit Concert: By Nevut, to benefit IDF lone soldier veterans. Featuring Lazer Lloyd, “the best guitarist in Israel.” 8 pm. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere. Nevut.org/Chanukah.

Tuesday December 4

Laughter and Latkes: Comedian Elon Gold at event benefitting Kids of Courage. 7:45 pm. 140 Central Ave, Lawrence. Events@kidsoc.org

Wednesday December 5

Party at JFK: The International Synagogue in Terminal 4 invites you to its annual Chanukah party, featuring musical performances and a silent auction. 5 pm. JFK Airport, Terminal 4, fourth floor. 718-656-5044. Chanukah on Ice: Go ice skating with Chabad of Hewlett. Enjoy games, raffles, crafts, face painting, and decorate your own doughnuts. 6:30 pm. Grant Park Skating Rink, Broadway, Lynbrook. $7 plus skate rental. 516-295-3433.

Thursday December 6

JEP Magic: Community event for families and

neighborhood friends of JEP/Nageela. Extreme magic by Eric Wilzig; music by Azamra Entertainment. JEP/Nageela alumni, campers, staff and volunteers attend free. 7 pm. 305 Cedarhurst Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-374-1528 ext. 240.

Friday December 7

Chanukah Fun Day: Chabad of Hewlett with a full-day Chanukah party. Build a dreidel robot, make your own candles, and more. 8:30 am-2:30 pm. 44 Everit Ave, Hewlett. $30 per child; space is limited. RSVP at JewishHewlett.com/chanukahfun.

Saturday December 8

Kosher Komedy: A fun-filled evening, from glatt-kosher gourmet dinner to hilarious standup show. 8 pm. 2359 Flatbush Ave. 718-338-1110.

Sunday December 9

Book Mini Tour: The All-of-a-Kind Family returns with a special new Chanukah book. Join the author and illustrator for a mini tour of the Bialystoker Synagogue, readings, Q & A, and book signing. 2 pm. 7-11 Willett Street/ Bialystoker Place, Manhattan. $25 (includes hardcover book and sufganiyot). RSVP at NYCjewishtours.org by Nov 28 Chanukah Telethon: Emceed by Rabbi Anchelle Perl. Starring 8th Day, cantor Avi Albrecht, and the Dancing Rabbis. Co-hosted by Mickey B, Ken Grimball, Jill Nicolini, Jay Oliver, Kive Strickoff. Broadcast live on ChanukahTelethon.com.

Family Fun Every Day

YU Dinner: Annual Chanukah dinner and convocation, honoring Hadassah Lieberman, J. Philip Rosen, and Bennett Schachter. 5 pm. New York Hilton. YU.edu/Hanukkah.

Monday December 10

Chanukah Circus: Join Chazaq for a last day of Chanukah celebration, featuring Big Apple Circus, Uncle Moishy, Simcha Leiner and more! Emceed by Nachum Segal. Shows at 12 pm and at 3 pm. JewishTickets.com. $25 and up.

Tuesday December 11

Tefillah BeShanah [weekly]: Dr. Jay Goldmintz of Koren Publishers will speak at Young Israel of North Woodmere in a series exploring Jewish prayer. 8 pm. 634 Hungry Hollow Rd, North Woodmere. YINW.org/event/tb.

Thursday December 13

Kulanu Chai Dinner: Celebrating 18 years of Kulanu, honoring volunteers Michelle Sulzberger and Eta Bienenstock, and Amudei Chesed Barbara & David Goldenberg. Comedic entertainment by Steven Scott. 7:30 pm. 775 Branch Blvd, Cedarhurst.

Highlighted Workshop Free with museum admission

Tuesday December 18

Tefillah BeShanah [weekly]: Rabbi Moshe Taragin of Yeshivat Har Etzion will speak at Young Israel of North Woodmere in a series exploring Jewish prayer. 8 pm. 634 Hungry Hollow Rd, North Woodmere. YINW.org/event/tb.

Friday December 21

Friday Night Oneg: All men are invited to a Friday night oneg at the home of Rabbi Shay Schachter. 7:30 pm. 430 Forest Avenue, Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

Sunday January 6

HASC Concert: A Time for Music 32 at Lincoln Center. HASCconcert.com. #CommUnity: Achiezer holds its annual gala dinner at the Sands Atlantic Beach, honoring Yossy & Miriam Lea Ungar, Dr. Martin Kessler, Dr. Ari Hoschander, Michael H. Goldberg, and Shalom & Leah Jaroslawicz. 1395 Beech St, Atlantic Beach. Dinner@Achiezer.org.

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November 30, 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ 22 Kislev, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR